Filenews 7 March 2023
Cyprus is considered a stable value for Eurobank's strategy and especially now that the bank is one step ahead of acquiring more than 30% of the share capital of Hellenic Bank. Yesterday's statements by Stavros Ioannou, deputy CEO of Eurobank, Group COO & international activities, on the occasion of the departure of the Greek group from Serbia, came to emphasize that Greece, Bulgaria and Cyprus are the markets where Eurobank has a systemic presence and a strategy is being implemented to achieve even higher returns.
As Mr. Ioannou emphasizes, Eurobank is steadily and consistently implementing a strategy to strengthen its presence outside Greece. "We always look two steps ahead and remain open to new opportunities," he says. In the three markets targeted by the Group, Mr. Ioannou underlines that Eurobank maintains a systemic presence, with a high market share, while it is a strategic goal to strengthen its positions, constantly examining new opportunities and possible acquisitions.
The pre-election period in Cyprus did not allow any moves by the Greek group, as any shareholding expansion, in addition to the agreement of the other shareholders, requires informing the state and institutional actors. Developments for the time being have stopped a day before the end of 2022, when Eurobank announced that it had bought another 3.2% of Hellenic Bank's shares.
When it receives the necessary regulatory approvals, its percentage will reach 29.2%, which is expected to change the balance in Greece for good. In the near future, there may be developments since Eurobank is one step ahead of the acquisition of more than 30% of the bank, as it still lacks 0.8% of shares until it fully acquires control over Hellinikon and then, according to the legislation, is obliged to proceed with a public offer.
For the record, we should mention that the Third Point investment fund paved the way for Eurobank to acquire a shareholding presence in Hellinikon, selling the shares it owned, while Wargaming and the investment fund Senvest are estimated to bring no obstacles and will give the green light to a public offer by Eurobank. At the moment it is unknown or no information has been leaked whether there have already been discussions with Pimco, the other major shareholder of Hellenic Bank and what his intentions are towards the moves of the Greek group. Pimco, through Poppy Sarl, has 17.3% of the share capital of Hellinikon, while the share capital of Wargaming in Hellinikon amounts to 7.2% and that of Senvest to 1.8%. Also of great interest will be the stance taken by Dimitra Investment, who together with Logicom have 24.5% of the bank.
Hellenic Bank's stock shows a return of 13.38% in one month, 29.45% in three months, 97.34% in six months and 145.865 in one year. Its capitalization in the CSE is €712,089,021 and the number of shares is 412,805,230.
