BNP Paribas SA is in talks to sell its consumer finance unit in Hungary to Credit Mutuel, people familiar with the matter said.
(Bloomberg) — BNP Paribas SA is in talks to sell its consumer finance unit in Hungary to Credit Mutuel, people familiar with the matter said.
The discussions between the two French lenders are over a unit known as Magyar Cetelem Bank ZRT, said the people, who asked not to be named discussing private matters.
Credit Mutuel’s Cofidis unit would acquire the business if an agreement is reached, they said.
Talks between the banks are ongoing and could still fall apart. A spokeswoman for BNP declined to comment.
A Credit Mutuel spokesman also declined to comment.
The Hungary unit has some 300 staff and between 300,000 and 400,000 clients.
BNP Paribas started an overhaul of its consumer finance unit earlier this year after a worsening economic outlook and high levels of inflation weighed on the business’s profitability.
The lender is seeking to run down some of its books and sell some divisions.
Erste Bank Group AG is in separate talks to acquire BNP’s consumer finance unit in the Czech Republic. The deal would give the Vienna-based lender a business with 9.9 billion Czech koruna ($463 million) in loans and a more than 20% share of the Czech Republic’s credit card market, Bloomberg News reported this month.
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