First of all, a green light from the BoG on the Pankritia-HSBC deal

By Leonidas Stergiou

In principle, the Bank of Greece was positive in the first stage regarding an agreement for the acquisition of the network and the Greek activities of HSBC in Greece. According to information, after this stage, the relevant file with the details of the agreement is submitted in order for the final decision to be made by the Bank of Greece.

The same sources state that the filing of the file and the relevant announcement is expected in the coming days.

In the event that the deal goes ahead, the net capital of Pankritia is increased by 85 million euros, ie almost doubled. This aid comes from forecasts for the network covered by the parent company in France.

The acquisition of HSBC is a complement to the development program of Pancretan Bank, which already has higher assets and a number of branches than HSBC. Nevertheless, the latter has a sound loan portfolio, experienced executives and remarkable staff.

Subject to the approval of the agreement by the BoG, Pancretan Bank acquires from HSBC Greece:

– Assets over 1.8 billion euros

– Deposits of around € 1.7 billion,

Loans of 0.6 billion euros

– Network of 15 stores, which leads to a net increase of the funds of Pankritia by 85 million euros.

It is noted that the assets of Pankritia, according to the balance sheets of the nine months of 2021 amounted to 2.6 billion euros (deposits of 1.5 billion euros) while it has 45 service points nationwide.

It is recalled that in the last two years HSBC had been in talks with systemic banks, such as Alpha Bank and Eurobank, without however reaching any form of agreement for full or partial acquisition. The exploratory contacts took place in several cycles, as it was a strategic decision from the headquarters in France to leave the Greek market within a certain time frame.