Hungary's OTP Bank to buy Luminor

Hungary's OTP Bank to buy Luminor OTP Bank has signed an agreement to acquire Luminor, the third-largest banking group in the Baltic region, as it looks to expand its presence in the region. OTP Group is a leading banking group in Central and Eastern Europe, serving 17.5 million customers across 11 countries. It has continued to operate in Russia after the start of the full-scale invasion and was temporarily sanctioned by Ukraine in 2023. Luminor is the third-largest provider of financial services in the Baltic region. In 2025, the bank generated a net profit of €158 million. On Monday, the OTP Group said in a statement that it had signed an agreement with a consortium of private equity funds managed by Blackstone and DNB Bank to buy Luminor. "The acquisition of Luminor is not merely a geographical expansion; it represents a strategic entry into a developed, stable region with significant growth potential," said Péter Csányi, chief executive officer of OTP Bank. The company's goal is to strengthen Luminor's role in the Baltics and "contribute to the development of the region's financial system, lending activity and financial innovation." Chief Executive Officer of Luminor Wojciech Sass said the deal will give the pan-Baltic bank the support of an experienced international banking group with a strong presence across Central and Eastern Europe. Completion of the transaction is subject to obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals. Luminor Bank AS was formed on October 1, 2017, when the merger of the Baltic units of DNB and Nordea was completed. Expert: Other major banks also operate in Russia Former Financial Supervision and Resolution Authority head Kilvar Kessler said there is nothing special about OTP continuing its activities in Russia, as many other European banks still operate in the country, such as Italy's UniCredit and Austria's Raiffeisenbank Last year the bank's assets and gross customer loans in Russia grew by 40 percent and 56 percent respectively. However, OTP's operations are overseen by both the European Central Bank and the Financial Supervision and Resolution Authority, both of which must approve the proposed merger. "In the current circumstances it certainly has a particular context or flavour, but whether that should rule out OTP as Luminor's owner... Perhaps we need to look at what exactly its Russian business consists of and whether it could in any way negatively affect OTP as Luminor's owner," Kessler said on Tuesday's Vikerraadio's Uudis+ programme. Speaking about foreign investment in Estonia and its decline, Kessler said he does not see anything particularly significant in Blackstone selling its stake. "That fund was not created to hold and own a bank over the long term. Its role was precisely to build up Luminor and improve the quality of its loan portfolio – to strengthen the bank," Kessler noted, adding that this is Blackstone's business model. In Kessler's opinion, OTP's acquisition could have a positive effect for customers in the region. "I would predict that it will have a positive effect on banking competition in this region, and customers should only benefit from it," he said. This story was updated to add comments from Kilvar Kessler. -- Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update! Editor: Helen Wright