M&A alert. J.C. Flowers buys Piraeus Bank Romania

American private investment firm J.C. Flowers will take over Piraeus Bank Romania for an undisclosed sum.

The deal, which is pending regulatory approvals, will be closed in the first half of 2018, according to the expectation of the buyer.

Christos Megalou, the CEO of the Greek lender Piraeus Bank, said the sale of the Romanian branch is part of a restructuring plan agreed with the European Commission, the executive arm of the EU.

“Piraeus Bank Romania has a solid solvency, liquidity, and asset quality profile in the fastest-growing economy in the European Union. We look forward to working with Piraeus Bank Romania to complete the acquisition and create a strong independent bank in the dynamic, local banking sector in Romania,” said J. Christopher Flowers, CEO and managing director of JCF.

UBS Limited acted as exclusive financial advisor of Piraeus Bank for the transaction. White & Case acted as international legal counsel of Piraeus Bank and Schoenherr si Asociatii as Romanian legal counsel of Piraeus Bank. Law firm Clifford Chance Badea assisted the buyer. UniCredit Bank was the financial consultant of JCF.

At the end of September, Piraeus Bank Romania had total assets of EUR 1.5 billion. The bank has 99 branches and over 1,300 employees. It has around 150,000 active clients.

J.C. Flowers has around USD 6 billion of assets under management and has invested more than USD 15 billion of capital in 50 portfolio companies in 17 countries.