November 8 (SeeNews) - Greece's Eurobank Ergasias has concluded an agreement to acquire Piraeus Bank Bulgaria from Greek peer Piraeus Bank, Eurobank's Bulgarian unit said.
The value of Piraeus Bank Bulgaria's shares is 75 million euro ($85.8 million) and the transaction will have limited effect on Eurobank's common equity tier 1 capital, Eurobank Bulgaria, which operates under the Postbank brand, said in a statement late on Wednesday.
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The deal is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2019 subject to approvals by the relevant regulatory and supervisory authorities.
"The acquisition is in line with Eurobank's strategy to focus on expansion in its international markets, which it considers important, such as the Bulgarian one," Stavros Ioannou, deputy CEO of Eurobank Ergasias, said in the statement.
Following the acquisition, Eurobank Bulgaria will have a market share of over 10% and will be the third largest lender in terms of credit portfolio. Eurobank Bulgaria's assets will grow to over 5 billion euro and its capital will exceed 600 million euro.
At the end of September, Piraeus Bank Bulgaria's assets totalled 1.7 billion euro. The lender had a credit portfolio of 820 million euro and 1.3 billion euro in deposits. Piraeus Bank Bulgaria had 70 branches and 900 employees at the end of September.
Eurobank Bulgaria was Bulgaria's fifth largest lender by assets at the end of September, while Piraeus Bank Bulgaria was 9th, according to data of the country's central bank.
($ = 0.8741 euro)
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