Eurobank enters the final stretch for 100% of Hellenic Bank

Today marks the entry of Eurobank SA into the final stretch for the acquisition of 100% of the share capital of Hellenic Bank.

This is because the acceptance period for the new public offer begins with a completion time frame of 9 April, the relevant document for which was approved by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) last week and which will be available from today, Tuesday, 11 March, to Hellenic Bank shareholders who hold more than 0.01% of its shares.

This is essentially another key milestone in the overall process of absolute control of Hellenic Bank being obtained by Eurobank, which - it is recalled - currently holds 93.47% and is offering as consideration to Hellenic Bank shareholders who will accept the public offer for 100%, €4.843 per share.

As mentioned above, the acceptance period for the public offer begins today and ends on 9 April at 2.30pm.

In the event that during this period of acceptance of the public offer, Eurobank does not manage to acquire 100%, then given the fact that it already holds the required percentage for such a thing (i.e. over 90%), it will proceed with the squeeze out, i.e. the exercise of the right granted to it for the mandatory acquisition of minority shares.

The next step on the road to the unification of Hellenic Bank with Eurobank Cyprus will be the legal merger, from which the new banking organisation will essentially emerge.

The completion of this process is scheduled for September, to be followed by the integration process, that is, the co-location of the customers of the two banks under the new entity.

The merger of Hellenic Bank and Eurobank Cyprus will result in a banking organisation with €100 billion in assets and with the prospect of becoming the largest in Cyprus.

It is recalled that last June, holding around 55% of Hellenic, Eurobank had submitted a public offer for 100% with a proposed consideration of €2.56 per share.

However, the key that unlocked the door for full control of the bank for good were the agreements that followed on the part of Eurobank, initially with bank employee union ETYK for the acquisition of the 12.85% held by the various funds of the union in Hellenic Bank and subsequently with Demetra Holdings Plc and Logicom Services Limited for 21.33% and 3.33%, respectively.

Through these transactions, which were completed in February, Eurobank acquired another 154,832,195 shares, corresponding to 37.5% of the share capital of Hellenic Bank, for a total consideration of approximately €750 million, i.e. a consideration of €4.843 per share.

With the acquisition of these shares, Eurobank increased its participation in Hellenic Bank from 55.96% (231,014,806 shares) to 93.47% (385,847,001 shares) where it stands today, thus paving the way for 100% and the resulting seamless implementation of its strategic plan for Hellenic Bank.

(Source: InBusinessNews)