Fortis Lease Group has bought Bank Austria Creditanstalt Leasing's (BA-CA Leasing) Italian subsidiaries Austria Finanza and Austrolease for EUR32 million.

Fortis Lease CEO and managing director Philippe Delva said the acquisition would further strengthen the company's ambitions to provide a complete range of financial services to European companies with cross-border activities.

"It will also secure Fortis Lease Group's position as a top-five player among European leasing companies with cross-border activities," Delva said.

With the addition of the acquired companies' diversified portfolio of EUR500 million, approximately 8 per cent of its existing book, Fortis Lease's total assets will increase from EUR6.4 billion to EUR6.9 billion.

Fortis Lease is a financial leasing company specialising in leasing products like forklifts, cars, machinery, IT equipment and real estate. It currently operates in Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Spain, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Poland.

With a market capitalisation of EUR27.7 billion and around 52,000 employees, the Fortis Lease Group ranks in the top 20 European financial institutions.