Bank acquires 51% stake in Romanian brokerage

We advised an international bank on the acquisition of a 51% stake in the Romanian brokerage company, the first entry of a first-tier international bank in the Romanian brokerage market.

This deal recognised the growing importance of the Romanian capital markets and the opportunities to develop our client’s services in Romania and throughout the region on the basis of the existing brokerage’s platform. The integration of the brokerage into the banking group will be the first test in the EU of the newly implemented MIFID, particularly with respect to the intra-group service sharing of what may be considered by the regulator to be critical services.

The deal presented many aspects of a joint-venture type arrangements, as the selling shareholders remain as minority shareholders in the company.