LONDON, 22 April 2025 – Advent, a leading global private equity investor, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire tbi bank (“tbi”), a leading tech-led challenger bank in Southeast Europe and regional leader in payment plan solutions. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Currently operating in Bulgaria, Romania, and Greece, tbi is building an ecosystem by combining financing and shopping to address customers’ needs. Through various digital channels and trusted partnerships with over 32,000 merchant partner check-out points, tbi has a customer base of over 2.4 million and nearly 1,000,000 loans issued in 2024. Its digital-first business model and customer-focused approach has resulted in tbi becoming 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,” said Ranjan Sen, Managing Partner at Advent. “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.”
Petr Baron, Chief Executive Officer of tbi, 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.”
Advent has developed significant expertise and track record investing in consumer-facing banks and financial institutions, including in the region. Prior and current Advent investments include Nubank, the largest independent digital bank in the world, Addiko Bank, a consumer and SME specialist bank active across Central and Southeast Europe, KreditBee, one of India’s leading consumer finance platforms, Aareal Bank, a leading provider of financing solutions and services, with a focus on the property industry, and YES Bank, the 6th largest private bank in India. Advent also executed multiple investments in Bulgaria and Romania, the core tbi markets.
The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals.
About Advent
Advent is a leading global private equity investor committed to working in partnership with management teams, entrepreneurs, and founders to help transform businesses. With 16 offices across five continents, we oversee more than EUR €88 billion in assets under management* and have made 430 investments across 44 countries.
Since our founding in 1984, we have developed specialist market expertise across our five core sectors: business & financial services, consumer, healthcare, industrial, and technology. This approach is bolstered by our deep sub-sector knowledge, which informs every aspect of our investment strategy, from sourcing opportunities to working in partnership with management to execute value creation plans. We bring hands-on operational expertise to enhance and accelerate businesses.
As one of the largest privately-owned partnerships, our 660+ colleagues leverage the full ecosystem of Advent’s global resources, including our Portfolio Support Group, insights provided by industry expert Operating Partners and Operations Advisors, as well as bespoke tools to support and guide our portfolio companies as they seek to achieve their strategic goals.
To learn more, visit our website or connect with us on LinkedIn.
*Assets under management (AUM) as of December 31, 2024. AUM includes assets attributable to Advent advisory clients as well as employee and third-party co-investment vehicles.
About tbi bank
Visit the tbi bank website.
Media contacts
Advent
Peter Folland
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tbi bank
Anna Grigorova
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