A PYMNTS Company

Croatia Competition Authority Approves HPB Acquisition of Croatia Banka

By  |  July 19, 2026
bank

Croatia’s competition regulator has approved Hrvatska Poštanska Banka’s (HPB) planned acquisition of Croatia Banka, clearing a key regulatory hurdle for a transaction that will further consolidate the country’s banking market.

    Get the Full Story

    Complete the form to unlock this article and enjoy unlimited free access to all PYMNTS content — no additional logins required.

    yesSubscribe to our daily newsletter, PYMNTS Today.

    By completing this form, you agree to receive marketing communications from PYMNTS and to the sharing of your information with our sponsor, if applicable, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions.

    According to SeeNews, which cited a stock exchange filing by HPB on July 17, the Croatian Competition Agency (AZTN) determined that the transaction does not represent a prohibited market concentration and may proceed under the country’s merger control rules.

    The approval follows an agreement signed in March between HPB and the Croatian Deposit Insurance Agency (DAB), under which HPB agreed to acquire DAB’s entire stake in Croatia Banka for €15 million. HPB shareholders approved the transaction in April, according to earlier reporting by SeeNews.

    The regulator’s decision indicates that authorities concluded the acquisition is unlikely to substantially lessen competition in Croatia’s banking sector despite ongoing consolidation trends across the industry.

    HPB, Croatia’s largest domestically owned bank, reported total assets of approximately €7.2 billion at the end of March, while Croatia Banka held assets of about €275 million, according to data from the Croatian National Bank. Given the relatively small size of the target institution, the transaction is expected to have a limited impact on overall market concentration.

    Croatia’s banking sector remains heavily dominated by foreign-owned lenders, including subsidiaries of major Italian, Austrian and Hungarian banking groups. In that context, the transaction is notable because it strengthens the position of a domestically controlled institution rather than expanding the footprint of an international banking group.

    Croatia Banka has a long history of state involvement. The lender encountered liquidity problems in 1999 and subsequently came under rehabilitation measures administered by the Croatian Deposit Insurance Agency. Since then, the state-backed agency has overseen the bank’s restructuring efforts.

    In a notice issued earlier this year, Croatia Banka said the planned integration into HPB would not immediately affect customers and that banking services, including accounts, payment cards, digital banking, loans and deposits, would continue operating without interruption during the transition process.

    Competition authorities across Europe have increasingly scrutinized banking mergers in recent years due to concerns over market concentration, consumer choice and financial stability. However, smaller transactions involving limited overlaps in market share have generally received expedited approval where regulators determine that competitive conditions will remain largely unchanged.

    HPB announced that the Croatian Competition Agency’s clearance constitutes one of the required approvals for completing the acquisition. Additional procedural steps related to the transaction and integration process are expected to follow before the deal can be fully implemented.

    Source: SeeNews