The privately owned Piraeus Bank offered on Thursday to buy stakes in two state-controlled banks for 701 million euro. The bank is bidding to acquire 77.3 per cent of ATEBank and 33 per cent of Hellenic Postbank, CEO Michalis Sallas said.
The move follows public statements by government officials that Greek banks were likely to merge because of the country’s acute financial crisis.
Sallas said the proposed deal would create the country’s largest banking group with assets worth more than 105 billion euro.
“This is a proposal which we believe will be beneficial to Greek society, the banks themselves, the state and the general atmosphere, so that we can escape this atmosphere of gloom,” Sallas said.
Piraeus would finance the proposed acquisition out of its own funds – including liquidity and capital provided under the government’s 2008 rescue package.