DLA Piper acts as central legal advisor in creation of Hungarian ‘Superbank’

DLA Piper has acted as the central legal advisor to the key owners of the Budapest Bank Group, MKB Bank Group and Takarékbank Group. As a result of the successful completion of the transaction, the second largest banking group in Hungary has been established.

On 30 October the key owners of the Budapest Bank Group, MKB Bank Group and Takarékbank Group signed an investment and shareholders’ agreement in accordance with their previous letter of intent. In accordance with their agreement, on 15 December 2020 the signatories transferred their shares in their respective banks to Hungarian Bankholding Ltd., their jointly owned financial holding company, thereby creating the “Superbank,” Hungary's second largest banking group providing services to 1.9 million customers, 200,000 micro-enterprises, 30,000 small and medium-sized enterprises and 6,000 private banking clients.

DLA Piper acted as the central legal advisor on the combination of the three banking groups, providing critical regulatory, corporate and transactional advice as well as coordinating the law firms working on the transaction.

András Nemescsói, Partner and Head of the Litigation and Regulatory team of DLA Piper Hungary said:"We are proud that we had the opportunity to participate in the consolidation of Budapest Bank, MKB Bank and Takarékbank and the establishment and licensing of the first financial holding company in Hungary. Without the focus and support of all involved in this exceptional transaction and the constructive approach of the regulators, the transaction could not have been completed in such a timely manner. We expect the newly created banking group will prove to be a resilient and integrated universal bank of systemic importance able to support Hungary’s recovery through COVID-19.”

Gábor Molnár, Partner and Head of Corporate and M&A of DLA Piper Hungary added: “The combination of the three banking groups is a uniquely complex process which is very rarely seen in practice globally. We did our best to make the implementation of this extremely challenging transaction as smooth as possible by exploiting all the firm’s know-how, dedication and values. This combination is in line with the regulators’ call for further consolidation within the banking system and the recent consolidation seen in the sector.”

The DLA Piper Hungary team was co-led by András Nemescsói and Gábor Molnár with a core team of Gábor Hollós, Jenő Kimmel, András Orbán, Balázs Szalbot and Péter Virág.