Successful Deals with PwC: Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale agrees to acquire Oldenburgische Landesbank

The journey began in 2013 with Apollo Global Management, Grovepoint Investment Management, and the Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquiring a small regional bank focused on SME financing in northern Germany, called Bremer Kreditbank AG (BKB, formerly named KBC Bank Deutschland AG). At that time, BKB had a balance sheet of approximately EUR 2.2 billion and equity of EUR 219 million. In 2016, Bankhaus Neelmeyer, a private bank in northern Germany, was acquired to enhance BKB’s asset and wealth management capabilities. This acquisition was soon followed by the significant acquisition of Oldenburgische Landesbank (“OLB”) in 2017, a regional universal bank with a strong retail franchise in northern Germany. All three banks were merged into OLB in 2018 to streamline operations and harness the envisioned synergies. In 2019, OLB acquired Wüstenrot Bank, bringing a strong retail distribution network via agents into its franchise, which was merged and integrated a year later. The latest acquisition was Degussa Bank in 2022, which further bolstered distribution power and expanded the retail customer base. The operational merger of Degussa into OLB was completed in August 2024. Through these ambitious acquisitions and subsequent mergers, OLB has established itself as a universal bank in Germany with a balance sheet exceeding EUR 34 billion, equity of nearly EUR 2 billion, and achieving a return on equity exceeding 15% - among the highest in the European banking industry. This success paved the way for a promising exit process.

We take great pride in PwC's integral role in this remarkable value creation journey since 2013. PwC supported the shareholders and the OLB platform across all acquisitions and mergers with multiple teams from various jurisdictions and lines of services, making this success story a testament to our firm and our strong capabilities throughout the deals cycle.

For the sales process starting in November 2024, we supported the shareholders and OLB in preparing a vendor assistance report, the pro forma financial statements, as well as giving advice on the SPA.

In March 2025, the decision was made to sell the bank to Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale (“Crédit Mutuel”) and on March 20, the SPA was signed. The transaction is subject to regulatory and antitrust approvals, where we continue to support OLB. Closing is expected in 2026.

Following the closing, Crédit Mutuel plans to integrate OLB with its existing German subsidiary, Targobank. The acquisition acts as an accelerator to transform Targobank into a universal bancassurer in in Europe's largest economy, following its parent company's model. The consolidated group will become the 10th largest bank in Germany in terms of assets and will be a comprehensive player in corporate financing services to the German Mittelstand as well as retail banking.

A pivotal element of our success has been our longstanding relationship with OLB and its shareholders, and we would like to thank them for the trust they have placed in us throughout this exciting journey over the past decade.

Official press release

The PwC team

FS Deals - Swiss Team:

Falk von der Heyde (Partner)
Christoph Mandel (Senior Manager)
Emanuel Weber (Senior Manager)
Yannick Schneeberger (Senior Associate)
Juan Mora (Associate)

IT & Operations:

Marc Lahmann (Partner)
Dennis Janssen (Senior Manager)
Fabian Heine (Senior Manager)
Eric Kjellqvist (Manager)
Federica Minniti (Senior Associate)
Adam Simon (Senior Associate)

CMAAS - Swiss Team:

Michael Eiber (Partner)
Philipp Amrein (Director)
Pooja Hariharan (Senior Manager)

CMAAS - German Team:

Sven Meier (Partner)
Susanne Tietz-Weber (Senior Manager)
Amira Shala (Senior Associate)

Tax - UK Team:

Leo Humphries (Partner)