Hungarian "OTP" bank buys Kulska Banka

- Hungarian “OTP” bank intends to become the majority owner of Kulska Bank in Novi Sad through procurement of at least 67% of stocks and it is ready to pay 119m EUR for them - said CEO of “Kulska banka” Mita Katić.

Total value of “Kulska banka” was estimated to 177m EUR, said Katić, pointing out that "Volksbank" and Piraeus Bank are also in the competition.

With the total assets of 136.3m EUR, “Kulska banka” has 1.5% of market share in Serbian banking sector. It ended fiscal year 2005 with 12.1m EUR worth of net profit, whereas its stock capital amounted to 68.8m EUR.

In three months, which is the period needed for completion of entire transaction, “OTP” bank will have about 80 offices in Serbia and its headquarters will be in Novi Sad. “OTP” group, the part of which is the namesake bank, also owns leasing companies, the companies for fund management and insurance companies. It is present in Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovakia and Romania.