Italy’s UniCredit on Monday announced plans to become Greek lender Alpha Bank’s largest investor while also agreeing to acquire most of the bank’s Romanian business.
UniCredit has offered to buy a 9 per cent stake owned by Greece's bank bailout fund – the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund. Terms of the bid were not revealed, but those shares were valued at about €269 million at the end of trading last week, with government officials welcoming the offer.
The deal for the Romanian business will see Alpha Bank receive €300 million in cash. Alpha Bank will retain a 9.9 per cent stake in a newly created entity which merges both bank's Romanian businesses and will become the third-largest lender by assets in the country.
UniCredit will also acquire 51 per cent of Alpha's wholly-owned life insurance unit AlphaLife Insurance Company.
UniCredit boss Andrea Orcel has overseen a strategic shift towards smaller-scale acquisitions in central and eastern European countries. It previously announced a similar tie-up in Romania.
Latest News
-
Barclays and Santander see largest current account losses after outages
-
WisdomTree chooses BNY for BaaS infrastructure
-
McGill and Partners to develop digital broking platform
-
ECB plans digital euro pilot ahead of 2029 issuance
-
Goldman Sachs and DBS complete ‘first-ever’ interbank over-the-counter crypto options trade
-
Ubank expands passkeys to online banking in ‘Australia-first’
Data trust in the AI era: Building customer confidence through responsible banking
In the second episode of FStech’s three-part video podcast series sponsored by HCLTech, Sudip Lahiri, Executive Vice President & Head of Financial Services for Europe & UKI at HCLTech examines the critical relationship between data trust, transparency, and responsible AI implementation in financial services.
Banking's GenAI evolution: Beyond the hype, building the future
In the first episode of a three-part video podcast series sponsored by HCLTech, Sudip Lahiri, Executive Vice President & Head of Financial Services for Europe & UKI at HCLTech explores how financial institutions can navigate the transformative potential of Generative AI while building lasting foundations for innovation.
Beyond compliance: Building unshakeable operational resilience in financial services
In today's rapidly evolving financial landscape, operational resilience has become a critical focus for institutions worldwide. As regulatory requirements grow more complex and cyber threats, particularly ransomware, become increasingly sophisticated, financial services providers must adapt and strengthen their defences. The intersection of compliance, technology, and security presents both challenges and opportunities.
Unleashing generative AI: A force multiplier for financial crime teams
This FStech webinar, sponsored by NICE Actimize sees industry experts examine the revolutionary impact of generative AI on financial crime operations, and provides actionable insights to enhance your compliance strategies.
© 2019 Perspective Publishing Privacy & Cookies
Recent Stories