An agreement appears to have been reached for the acquisition of Alpha Bank Bulgaria, by Eurobank’s subsidiary in the Bulgarian market, Postbank. The transaction is expected to be finalized in Athens by the management boards of the two Greek systemic banking groups.
This will be the first such merger in the Balkan market, with banking sources indicating that the acquisition will have a symbolic price and is a “one-off” deal, not associated with ay other sales or trades of assets. The same sources however underline that further similar decisions may be taken in other countries in the south east of Europe.
According to the bank sources, the overseas activities of the banks will be reexamined and planned again from scratch, after the stress tests are carried out next month.
Alpha Bank Bulgaria operates in the neighboring country as a subsidiary of the parent company, with a network of 80 bank units and deposits in the range of 200 million euros. Postbank on the other hand is a subsidiary operating with its own license and supervised by Bulgarian authorities. The acquisition is going to give the bank an even greater share in the local market.
In the first quarter of 2015, prior to the acquisition, Postbank reported assets worth 3.3 billion euros, other loans worth 2.2 billion euros, 2.5 billion euros of deposits an a network of 143 stores. At the same time, the Bulgarian subsidiary had net profits of 4.6 million euros, when last year it documented losses to the tune of 5.4 million euros.
