Global private equity investor Advent International said on April 22 it is acquiring Bulgarian TBI Bank (tbi) for an undisclosed sum from its owner, 4finance Holding S.A., one of Europe’s largest digital consumer lending groups, the company announced in a press release. 

tbi operates in Bulgaria, Romania and Greece and is building an ecosystem by combining financing and shopping to address customers’ needs.

The bank has over 32,000 merchant partner check-out points and a customer base of over 2.4mn and nearly 1,000,000 loans issued in 2024.

According to Advent International, tbi’s digital-first business model and customer-focused approach has turned the bank into one of the leading and fastest growing challenger banks in the region.

“tbi is at a pivotal point in its growth journey and underlines our commitment to the CEE region,” Ranjan Sen, managing partner at Advent, the press release said.

“It is a digital-first, agile and customer focused organisation, and we have a shared vision for helping to shape the future of banking. We are excited to partner with the team to support them as they continue to scale and provide innovative solutions for customers,” Sen added.

“In Advent, we’ve found the right partners who share our ambition, values and mindset. Their experience based on strong financial sector and CEE investment track record reinforces our mission to build a smarter and more accessible banking experience to our customers,” Petr Baron, CEO of tbi, noted.

In 2024, tbi’s net profit reached record-high €50mn, up by 18% year-on-year.