OTP Bank and Groupama, a multi-line insurer, have signed an exclusive long-term regional partnership agreement covering the distribution of life insurance, non-life insurance and banking products.

Groupama has agreed to purchase from OTP Bank 100% of OTP Garancia, an insurance company in Hungary, together with its wholly owned insurance subsidiaries in Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia. As part of its commitment to a regional partnership with OTP Bank and in order to reinforce the distribution agreements, Groupama has also committed to acquire up to 8% of the existing shares of OTP Bank.

Sándor Csanyi, chairman and CEO of OTP Bank, said: This transaction is an excellent opportunity to extend our universal financial services model and to grow our insurance offering to OTP Bank customers throughout the central and eastern Europe and the commonwealth of independent states. In partnership with Groupama, we will be able to continue to do this in Hungary and expand the breadth of our financial services product offering across the region. In addition, we are very pleased that Groupama has committed to support OTP Bank’s overall regional strategy through the acquisition of a meaningful strategic stake.