THE Bank of Cyprus (BoC) will today disclose details about its takeover bid for Greek lender Emporiki, as market analysts and investors alike in Cyprus and Greece hold their breath.
Earlier this month, France's Credit Agricole launched a friendly takeover bid for Emporiki that valued Greece's fourth-largest lender by assets at 3.1 billion euros.
The French bank already holds a 9 per cent stake in Emporiki, while a further 40 per cent is controlled by the Greek government, which is seeking to privatise the bank.
The BoC has confirmed it plans to buy out 100 per cent of Emporiki.
The BoC’s CEO Andreas Eliades was yesterday in Athens for talks with Greek Finance Minister Giorgos Alogoskoufis.
“Our bid will be comparable and autonomous,” Eliades told reporters after his meeting with the Greek minister.
The BoC will be convening a news conference today, giving facts and figures about its takeover bid and recapping developments in the issue, described by some Greek papers as a thriller.
Reports from Greece suggest that other banks might enter the fray and contest Credit Agricole.
For his part, Alogoskoufis refused to elaborate on what was discussed with Eliades, except to say the Greek government would examine all bids for Emporiki that were comparable to that launched by Credit Agricole.
One scenario floated in the Greek press is that the Greek government will accept a cash-only bid for 11 per cent of its stake in Emporiki.
Meanwhile analysts predict that if the BoC does go ahead, its bid will be for somewhere between 26 to 28 euros per share.
The BoC’s own stock in Nicosia was down 7.6 per cent, while Emporiki’s was 1.32 per cent lower at 26.94 euros. Analysts said the drop was fuelled by concerns on how the Bank of Cyprus would fund the move.
The largest financial institution on the island, the BoC had total assets of 22.32 billion euros at end-2005 and a 3.9 per cent share of the Greek market.
2005 was a highly successful year for the bank, which posted net profits of £72 million, and the group will be commencing full-scale operations in Russia and Romania by early 2007.
Cypriot analysts said rumours were going around in the market that the Bank of Cyprus mounted its bid for Emporiki in an attempt to fend off a perceived attempt by another Greek bank, Piraeus, to buy a large stake in the Cypriot bank.
By law, suitors require Central Bank permission to directly control more than 10 per cent of a Cypriot bank.
Source: Cyprus Mail
