BELGRADE (Serbia), December 7 (SeeNews) – Serbia’s competition regulator has approved the acquisition of the local banking and leasing operations of Greece's Piraeus Bank to Serbian lender Direktna Banka.
The market structure will not change significantly after the completion of the deal, according to the decision posted on the website of the competition authority.
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In October, Piraeus Bank said it agreed to sell its Serbian banking and leasing operations to Direktna Banka for a cash consideration of between 58 million euro ($68.1 million) and 61 million euro.
The exact consideration will depend on the financial performance of the divested assets until completion of the transaction and will include a combination of direct sale price and a simultaneous reduction of the capital of Piraeus Bank Beograd AD, the Greek lender said back then. It added that the deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2018, following the receipt of all necessary approvals, and is neutral to Piraeus’ CET-1 ratio.