Despite its status as a relative newcomer to the markets of eastern
and central Europe, KBC is rapidly making up for lost time.
Over the past four years, the Belgian bank has spent more than e2
billion ($2.18 billion) on strategic stakes in banks and insurers
from around the region. In the process, KBC has demonstrated just
what happens when deep pockets are drawn on to address pressing
commercial imperatives.
"As a mid-sized European bank, there was an awareness among
directors of the need to expand our domestic customer base," says
Herman Agneessens, KBC's Brussels-based executive committee member.
"Central and eastern Europe offered the ideal place in which to do
it, provided we were able to manage the transition process on the
one hand and the increased risk exposure on the other."
In seeking to create what bank officials call "a second home
market", KBC has embarked on an...
