Euro Invest Bank Buys Romania’s Transilvania Capital For Undisclosed Sum

05.09.2011 By Florentina Dragu

Euro Invest Bank AG has received authorization from Romania’s security commission to take over 99% in local brokerage firm Transilvania Capital, said Günter Woinar, general manager of the Austrian investment bank.

"We've started to monitor the market (in Romania) in the spring of last year, looking for a brokerage house. We've selected three companies for the final round and eventually decided to buy Transilvania Capital," Woinar told MEDIAFAX.

Woinar declined to disclose the deal's value. However, people familiar with the transaction said the price was below EUR1 million.

Euro Invest Bank is not at its first deal on the Romanian capital market. In 1994, the lender bought the brokerage firm Austro-Rom (renamed Euro Invest Vision).

Transilvania Capital is a small brokerage house, founded in 2003. The firm brokered deals totaling 29.5 million lei (EUR7.15 million) in January to April, ranking 33rd in a classification of brokerage houses on the Bucharest stock exchange.

Woinar said Euro Invest Bank plans to increase the firms capital, but didn't advance any figures.