United Bulgarian Bank

In the early 1990s, the Bulgarian banking sector was fragmented. The story of United Bulgarian Bank, or UBB, begins on September 30, 1992, not with a single founder, but with a bold government-led consolidation. It was established through the merger of 22 separate, state-owned regional commercial banks, making it the first and largest banking consolidation project in the country's history. This initial phase set the stage for a major turning point. In 1997, UBB became the first state-owned bank in Bulgaria to be privatized. A consortium including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) acquired the bank, signaling a new era of private management and international partnership. This was followed in 2000 by an acquisition by the National Bank of Greece (NBG), which became the majority shareholder. The most significant chapter in UBB's modern history began in December 2016, when the Belgian KBC Group announced it would acquire UBB for €610 million. This deal was part of KBC's strategy to become a dominant financial player in the region. The playbook became clear: acquire and integrate. KBC further solidified its position by acquiring Raiffeisenbank (Bulgaria) and merging it with UBB. The formal legal merger was completed in April 2023, creating the largest bank in Bulgaria by assets. This series of strategic acquisitions and mergers transformed UBB from a collection of regional banks into a cornerstone of the largest bank-insurance group in the country.