By Adria Calatayud

BBVA said it agreed to sell the Romania unit of its Garanti BBVA business to Austria's Raiffeisen Bank International for 591 million euros ($680.2 million).

The deal is set to make Raiffeisen's Romanian subsidiary the third-largest bank in the country by total assets, the Austrian lender said Saturday.

Spain's Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria said Garanti BBVA's Romanian subsidiary is the tenth largest financial institution in the country, with total assets of 4 billion euros, that gave it a 2% market share as of the end of last year.

RBI said it plans to merge the business with its existing operations in Romania, and that it sees the market as attractive for both retail and corporate and investment banking.

"This transaction represents a significant strategic move in one of the most attractive banking markets in Central and Eastern Europe, in a country we know very well," Raiffeisen Chief Executive Johann Strobl said.

BBVA said it estimates the sale will have a benefit of around 10 basis points on its CET1 ratio--a measure of financial strength--and of 112 million euros on the group's income statement.

Raiffeisen said it expects a hit of 60 basis points on the CET1 ratio of the group excluding its Russian operations.

The parties expect the deal to close in the fourth quarter, subject to regulatory approvals.

Write to Adria Calatayud at adria.calatayud@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 30, 2026 01:23 ET (05:23 GMT)

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