Seven foreign banks placed binding bids Monday for a 61.88 percent stake in the Romanian Commercial Bank, trying to establish a foothold in a rapidly expanding market that has seen successful bank privatizations in the past.

The bidders include Germany's Deutsche Bank AG, Erste Bank AG of Austria, Belgium's Dexia SA, Banco Comercial Portugues SA, National Bank of Greece SA, Italy's Banca Intesa SpA and France's BNP Paribas SA, the country's privatization agency said.
BCR is Romania's largest bank, managing assets worth some 7 billion euros ($8.54 billion), or 26 percent of the assets held by the country's banking system. Last year, it reported a net profit of 161 million euros ($196 million) under International Financial Reporting Standards.

Analysts say BCR's strong position in the Romanian market and the high number of bidders means the price is expected to be high, at least 3.4 billion euros ($4.08 billion).

While Romania is a relatively poorer country by Western European standards, its economy has been expanding rapidly in recent years in contrast with the West. The economy grew by 8.3 percent in 2004, and is expected to grow at around 6 percent for the next two years.

The Romanian government, which owns 36.88 percent of BCR, is selling its stake together with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Finance Corp., which own a joint 25 percent stake.

The government will open the bids on Tuesday and will then select two bidders for final negotiations.

Two groups that initially expressed interest in the sale, Belgian-Dutch financial services company Fortis NV and Belgian bank KBC Group NV, didn't submit bids, the agency said. But KBC said it continues to consider Romania to be a priority for extending its presence in the region.

Romania, which wants to have a completely private banking system before joining the European Union in 2007 or 2008, is also selling the country's savings bank, CEC.
France's Societe Generale, which took over Romania's Development Bank in 1998, said the bank earned $100 million (85 million euros) in the first half of this year, 97 percent more than a year ago.

Similarly, Austria's Raiffeisen Bank, which in 2001 bought the struggling Agricultural Bank, reported a profit jump of 400 percent to 17.4 million euros ($20.88 million) in the first half.