Hungarian banking group OTP Bank decided to strengthen its position in Europe instead of entering Kazakhstan, as previously planned. The bank has signed an agreement to acquire 100% of the shares of Luminor Holding, the parent company of Luminor Bank, which operates in the Baltic states.
The sellers are a consortium of investment funds managed by Blackstone and Norway’s DNB Bank. The transaction is expected to close after receiving all necessary regulatory approvals.
Luminor is one of the largest universal banks in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. As of the end of 2025, its assets totaled €15.9 billion, while its net profit amounted to €158 million.
In 2023, the group acquired Ipoteka Bank in Uzbekistan, demonstrating its interest in the region. In its 2025 annual report, OTP Bank said it continues to seek opportunities to acquire banks in both existing and new markets, highlighting Central Asia as a region of interest due to its strong growth potential.
OTP Bank’s possible entry into Kazakhstan first became known in the fall of 2025. At the time, Madina Abylkassymova, chair of Kazakhstan’s Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market, said that an Eastern European bank was considering acquiring a local financial organization.
In October 2025, Abzal Saparbekuly, Kazakhstan’s ambassador to Hungary, confirmed that OTP Bank was interested in entering the country.
OTP Group is one of the largest financial groups in Central and Eastern Europe. In addition to Hungary, it operates in Bulgaria, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Ukraine, Montenegro, Albania, Moldova, Romania and Russia.
