BELGRADE (Serbia), July 6 (SeeNews) – Greece's Piraeus Bank said its Serbian subsidiary has signed an agreement to sell non-performing loans (NPLs) worth 43 million euro.
The sale will have a significant positive impact on the NPL ratio of the Serbian subsidiary, Piraeus Bank Belgrade (PBB), which will be cut by eight percentage points to 17%, Piraeus Bank said in a filing with the Athens Stock Exchange on Wednesday.
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The name of the buyer was not disclosed.
The sale of the loans, lent by PBB to 47 corporations and small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in Serbia, is part of the restructuring plan of Piraeus Bank, the lender said. The deal is subject to approval by the Serbian central bank NBS.
The transaction follows the sale of loan portfolios totalling some 400 million euro in Romania and Bulgaria over the last 18 months, the Greek bank said.
According to media reports published last month, Piraeus Bank intends to sell its wholly-owned subsidiaries in Albania, Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia as part of a plan to reduce its foreign exposures.