As well as buying a 9% stake owned by Greece’s bank bailout fund, UniCredit intends to acquire most of Alpha Bank’s Romanian business.
This move is part of CEO Andrea Orcel’s strategy to grow fee-yielding businesses. Under a commercial partnership with Alpha, UniCredit will distribute its own asset management products to the 3.5 million clients of Greece’s fourth-largest bank.
Orcel has set up the „onemarkets” fund products business, working with sector leaders like BlackRock and Fidelity. Alpha trades at a value of €3bn and UniCredit is expected to pay a premium for its stake. Orcel confirmed a goal to return more than €6.5bn through dividends and buybacks to shareholders from its 2023 profit, which UniCredit sees above €7.25bn. UniCredit forecasts more than €100m in additional net profit over the medium term after the changes, with Romania accounting for most of this.
If the application fails, UniCredit will buy up to 5% of Alpha on the market over the next two years.
„How am I going to convince people that this is not the first step towards an acquisition of Alpha?” Posited Orcel. “For me having a partnership … on the client side with Alpha … without consuming any capital and bringing in the quality revenue without anything else … is the way to go.”
CENTRAL EASTERN EUROPE NEWS
UniCredit Plans to Become Alpha Bank Romania’s Biggest Investor
Follow us
