First Bank, Owned by American Investment Fund J.C. Flowers, Acquired Bank Leumi Romania

First Bank Romania, owned by American investment fund J.C Flowers, completed the acquisition of Bank Leumi Romania, the subsidiary of the Israeli’s biggest bank in Romania.

First Bank is one of the most dynamic banks in Romania. At one point they intended to also purchase Banca Romaneasca, owned by the National Bank of Greece, but the plans were cancelled. Now, Banca Romaneasca is waiting for the approval from the National Bank of Romania in order to be sold to EximBank Romania.

After acquiring Bank Leumi Romania, First Bank has reached a market share of 1.8% of the banking sector in Romania by financial assets. At the moment, First Bank has 59 branches and 130,000 active clients.

J. C. Flowers has invested in different banks worldwide, and their banking sector represents 38% of their investment portfolio. Among the banks they invested into we mention Shinsei Bank in Japan, NIBC in the Netherlands, One Savings Bank in the UK or Hamburg Commercial Bank in Germany.