Hungary's largest bank, OTP Bank submitted its binding bid for Joint Stock Innovation Bank UkrSibBank in Ukraine, Ukraine's fifth-largest bank by assets, as it chases acquisitions in the east European market, now a target for big west European banks.
OTP did not disclose financial terms of the bid for the bank, which is privately owned and which held talks with French banking giant Societe Generale earlier this year.
The Hungarian bank, which is the biggest in central Europe in terms of market capitalisation, has been expanding aggressively in Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and Slovakia, but is now facing stiff competition from west European banks.
It is currently in the race for Romania's fourth-largest bank, CEC, which is being privatised, and for Serbia's Vojvodjanska banka, the country's fourth-biggest lender.