New Suitors For Banca Carpatica

08.26.2014 By Bogdan Neagu

JC Flowers, a private equity firm founded by a former partner and executive at Goldman Sachs, is in competition with AnaCap and Axxess Capital for a stake in Romanian lender Banca Carpatica (BCC.RO), banking sources told MEDIAFAX.

The management of Banca Carpatica announced earlier this year its plans to merge with another bank to maximize its growth potential.

JC Flowers, founded by James Christopher Flowers, who worked for 20 years with Goldman Sachs, is specialized in financial sector investments. The funds managed by the company invested $14 billion, and the firm is currently looking for new targets for its third fund, which raised a capital of $2 billion.

AnaCap (Analytical Capital) is not at the first try to buy Banca Carpatica as it was in talks with the bank’s main shareholder, Ilie Carabulea, a few years ago, but the two parties did not agree on the price.

Axxess Capital is the only one of the potential buyers that owns a bank in Romania. Emerging Europe Accession Fund (EEAF), a fund managed by Axxess Capital, bought MKB Romexterra (the current Nextebank), from Hungarian group MKB.

Banking sources told MEDIAFAX that some other investors asked for access in Carpatica’s data room, including several Israeli investors, while another Romanian lender is ready to start discussion with the bank’s management and shareholders.

Banca Carpatica reported a net loss of 0.35 million lei (EUR0.08 million) for the first six months, compared with a net profit of RON16.1 million in the same period of 2013.

Banca Carpatica has been in the spotlight earlier this year after the central bank suspended the voting rights of two of its largest shareholders, namely Ilie Carabulea and Corneliu Tanase.

Carabulea was placed under house arrest for suspicion of bribery and influence peddling in connection to a case regarding the insurance company Carpatica Asig, part of the Carpatica banking and financial group. Tanase’s voting rights were suspended for having acted together with Carabulea.

Carabulea owns roughly 41.29% in Carpatica. His share could be acquired by the new investors in the bank.