Cypriot banks in Greece have reopened

 

From the first moment there were small queues of people who rushed to either collect salaries and pensions through relevant programs, or withdraw a portion or all of their deposits in order to transfer them to other banks.

 

Piraeus acquired the branch network by paying the equivalent of 524 million euros. The agreement relates to the acquisition of all the deposits, loans and branches of the Bank of Cyprus, the Cyprus Popular Bank (CPB) and the Hellenic Bank in Greece, including loans and deposits of subsidiaries in Greece (leasing, factoring and Investment Bank of Greece-IBG).

 

The new group will include 1,660 stores with 24,000 employees and deal on assets of 95 billion euros.

 

According to the relevant announcement "Piraeus Bank acquired the Greek banking activities of Bank of Cyprus, Cyprus Popular Bank and Hellenic Bank."

 

The full announcement is as follows:

 

"This agreement ensures the stability of the Greek banking system, assists Cyprus in response to the crisis and ensures depositors, customers and employees of the 3 Cypriot banks in Greece after the recent developments.

 

With the integration of these activities, the Group's total assets amount to 95 billion euros with 1,660 stores and 24,000 employees.

 

The Piraeus Bank Group has a long and proven experience of seamless and rapid integration of banks, as it has successfully carried out more than 15 mergers and acquisitions in the past 15 years. Piraeus Bank will carefully manage the process of integrating the activities of the 3 Cypriot banks in Greece, also aiming at creating value and opportunity for all interested parties.

 

This transaction represents another important step towards the restructuring of the Greek banking system, a process in which Piraeus Bank has been involved from the outset as a key pillar contributing to the effort to rebuild the Greek economy. The financial advisers of Piraeus Bank in this transaction are Barclays Bank PLC through its investment bank, Deutsche Bank AG London Branch and Lazard Freres.

 

The branches shops of the 3 Cypriot banks in Greece will reopen tomorrow, Wednesday, and all transactions will be carried out normally.

 

Customer deposits of the Greek branches of Bank of Cyprus, Cyprus Popular Bank (CPB) and the Hellenic Bank, as known, are not subject to any special fee or haircut decided in Cyprus.

 

For any questions customers and depositors may contact their servicing branch or phone 182838 / +30 210 32 8800 0."