Piraeus Bank Greece is to sell 99.98% of the shares of its subsidiary in Bulgaria to Eurobank Bulgaria AD (Postbank), according to a press release on the website of Piraeus on 7 November. The headquarters of the two institutions in Athens have signed an agreement to finalize the acquisition, however, the deal has to be approved by a number of regulatory bodies, including the Bulgarian National Bank and the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund. If developments are positive, the deal is expected to close in the first half of 2019.
The transaction is valued at €75 M. Piraeus Bank’s financial adviser on the deal is Mediobanca, the international legal counsel is White & Case LLP, and the Bulgarian legal counsel is Boyanov and Co law firm. The deal represents the last and very important stage in the implementation of Piraeus Bank’s Restructuring Plan commitments agreed with the Directorate-General for Competition of the European Commission.
According to Capital.bg, bids for the acquisition were also presented by BACB and Investbank, local Bulgaria-based banks, as well as from an investment fund active in the region. The sale of the bank has been running for months due to the pressure exerted by creditors over Greek banks to divest non-strategic assets following the debt crisis in Greece. At present, Postbank is the fifth largest bank in Bulgaria by assets; after the deal and the planned merger it will climb to the number three position. After the transaction, Postbank will remain the only Greek bank in Bulgaria. In 2016 the bank also acquired the local branch of Alpha Bank.
Stavros Ioannou, Deputy CEO of the Greek Eurobank, said in a press release: “The acquisition follows Eurobank’s strategy to focus on the expansion in the international markets we consider important, such as the Bulgarian one. Our aim is to better serve our clients, support the Bulgarian economy and the Greek business in our neighboring country.”
Piraeus Bank Bulgaria offers a wide range of products and services to its clients in retail banking, small and medium enterprises and corporate banking. As of 30 September 2018, the bank had assets of €1.7 Bn, 70 branches and over 900 employees.
