Garanti Bank is close to being acquired by Raiffeisen Bank, the Austrians' offer being preferred by BBVA.

Garanti Bank, part of the Garanti BBVA Turkey group, is about to be acquired by Raiffeisen Bank, which could thus increase its market share to over 11% and become the fourth bank in Romania, after Banca Transilvania, BCR, and UniCredit.

The Raiffeisen offer is favored by BBVA, compared to other competitors such as ING Bank and Intesa SanPaolo, who were interested in the acquisition until February 13. Raiffeisen, owned by RBI, currently holds the sixth position in the Romanian banking market, with a market share of 9.31%. This acquisition would allow Raiffeisen to surpass BRD Groupe Societe Generale and CEC Bank. Garanti Bank is owned by Garanti BBVA Turkey, which is part of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), a major global financial group.