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French sold a Greek bank for 1 euro

Armenpress 18:07, 17 October, 2012

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 17, ARMENPRESS: Credit Agricole SA, France’s third- largest bank, is exiting Greece by agreeing to sell Emporik Bank to Alpha Bank SA on terms that will cut net income by about 2 billion euros ($2.6 billion) in the third quarter, reports Armenpress referring to Bloomberg agency.

Credit Agricole is selling the unit for a token price of 1 euro, the company, based outside Paris, said today. It will inject more funds into Emporiki, bringing the total capital boost since July to 2.85 billion euros, and buy 150 million euros of convertible bonds issued by Alpha Bank.

Credit Agricole is ending a six-year investment in Europe’s most indebted country as concern lingers over Greece’s future in the euro area. Credit Agricole’s funding for the unit makes it the foreign lender with the most to lose should Greece leave the single currency. The boards of both companies and the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund have approved the sale, which the banks aim to complete by year-end, Credit Agricole said.

 The combination between Alpha Bank and Emporiki will create Greece’s second-largest bank by loans. Greece, heading for a sixth year of recession, is overhauling its banking system after lenders booked losses on government-bond holdings in the biggest sovereign-debt restructuring in history. The country obtained a 130 billion-euro bailout in March from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund that earmarked 50 billion euros for recapitalizing the banks.



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