Raiffeisen buying Czechia's Equa bank

Raiffeisen Bank International AG (RBI) has signed an agreement on acquiring 100 percent of the shares of Equa bank from AnaCap Financial Partners, a specialist financial services private equity investor, through its Czech subsidiary Raiffeisenbank a.s., Report informs, referring to the RBI website.

The proposed acquisition is part of RBI’s strategy to expand its presence in selected focus markets.

The business models of Equa bank and Raiffeisenbank are very complementary, which is why the transaction would ultimately lead to strategic synergies as well as enhanced digital capabilities, according to the press release.

As of year-end 2020, Equa bank had total assets of more than 2.8 billion euros, while Raiffeisenbank a.s. reported total assets of 15.7 billion euros.

Closing is expected around the end of the second quarter of this year.

On the basis that deal completion is successful, there is a plan to merge Equa bank with Raiffeisenbank, thereby allowing the realization of the identified synergies.

Equa bank focuses on consumer lending and serves just under 480,000 customers.