Filenews 22 May 2025 - by Theano Thiopoulou
The name of Hellenic Bank goes down in history, a name that appeared in the Cypriot market in 1976 and now, with the change of shareholder, after 49 years, it will change its name and becomes Eurobank, as was expected.
The new consolidated bank that will be active in the banking market upon the completion of the legal merger of the two banks, Hellenic and Eurobank Cyprus, is expected to have the brand name Eurobank. Although the name change has not been officially announced, the strategic study conducted by the firm and presented last week to the management of the Eurobank Group, left no room for any other name than that of the major shareholder who bought 100% of the shares of Hellenic Bank.
Sources from the bank neither confirmed nor denied to "F" the renaming of the Greek bank and limited themselves to mentioning that any decision is subject to the internal procedures of the organization and the supervisory authorities, the European Central Bank and the Central Bank.
The new consolidated bank will operate upon the completion of the legal merger of the two banks, Hellenic and Eurobank Cyprus, under the trade name Eurobank and this will take place on July 1st.
In practice, it means that gradually Hellinic's branches will change both internally and externally. The Greek inscriptions will be gone, the logo will be replaced, the colours and anything that refers to Hellenic will be replaced in the corporate image of the new bank with the details of the Eurobank group. Hellinic sources did not say when the changes to the 52 branches and 158 ATMs will be completed, but it is estimated that it will not take much time, while it is not known how much the radical facelift of Hellenic will cost, which will be renamed Eurobank.
In March, the CEO of Hellenic Bank, Michalis Louis, had mentioned in the context of a media briefing that approvals for the legal merger should be expected by mid-June and this would be the first phase of the merger. The second phase, the so-called operational merge, will be a process that will start from the very next day when the approvals of the legal merger will be received so as not to waste any time. In the presentation, it was mentioned that for a successful merger it takes about 2 years, a period that was characterized as reasonable and repeatedly emphasized by the executives of Hellenic Bank that customers will not be affected at all by the merger of the two banks.
In the announcement of the first quarter 2025 results, Mr. Louis had stated that "following the successful completion of the mandatory public takeover offer, the Eurobank Group has increased its participation rate to approximately 98% and is now proceeding with the securing of full ownership. As a member of the Eurobank Group, we focus on the integration of Hellenic Bank with Eurobank Cyprus, further improving our customer experience, supporting economic growth and creating value for our customers. In addition, the acquisition of CNP Cyprus Insurance Holdings has been completed. These developments are important milestones in our quest to become one of the leading financial services providers in Cyprus."
The objectives for Cyprus
In April, at the general meeting of the shareholders of the Eurobank group, the CEO Fokion Karavias had mentioned that the bank was proceeding with the legal merger of Hellenic with Eurobank Cyprus and at the same time developing the largest insurance group in the region. "Having acquired virtually all of the shares of Hellenic Bank, we have already started the legal merger process with Eurobank Cyprus, which will be completed in the coming months.
At the same time, after the acquisition of CNP Cyprus, its merger with the insurance companies belonging to Hellenic Bank will follow. In this way, we are creating the strongest banking organization in Cyprus, but our goal is not limited to conquering and exploiting the first place. Our intention is to establish a pioneering financial institution in Cyprus, which will contribute to the further development and evolution of the Cypriot economy," he said.
