Sanjeev Kanoria, a London-based British businessman of Indian origin, has acquired Austrian bank Hypo Alpe-Adria-Bank through a private arm Anadi Financial Holdings for €65.5 million ($89.5 million). The bank was formerly part of the Hypo Alpe-Adria-Bank Group which was nationalized in 2009 following the financial crisis. The bank has assets of €3.5 billion and services 56,000 clients from 14 branches in the southern region of Carinthia and through two subsidiaries in Vienna and Salzburg.
In the coming months, the new Hypo will continue to be named Hypo Alpe-Adria-Bank but later in 2014, a new name and corporate design will be developed and launched.
Martin Czurda, former CEO of Amsterdam Trade Bank, has been appointed CEO while Kanoria will become vice-chairman of the supervisory board.
Sanjeev Kanoria is one of the five brothers (the eldest being Hemant Kanoria) of the Kanoria family which runs infrastructure lending group SREI. He has previously worked with McKinsey & Co.
He said: “We have been looking for a bank anchored in European culture with close relationships to clients, and which fits our investment strategy for some time. Hypo Alpe-Adria has a solid client base, provides well-established, successful services and the sale process conducted by the Republic of Austria has been transparent and professional.”
The new bank’s business units will expand beyond the existing Carinthia-based regional bank to include Direct Banking and Mobile Banking (Carinthia) and a Vienna-based International Trade Bank Europe-India. There are also plans to set up an office in London to support trade between the UK, Europe and emerging economies.
