Greece's Eurobank Wraps up Acquisition of Alpha Bank's Bulgarian Branch

Bulgaria's Postbank, a subsidiary of Greece's Eurobank Ergasias, has wrapped up the acquisition of the operations of the Bulgarian branch network of Alpha Bank, another Greek lender.

"Following the signing of the preliminary agreement on July 17 2015, Alpha Bank and Eurobank announce that they have concluded a definitive agreement with regard to the transaction," the two Greek banks said in a joint statement on Friday.

Under the deal, Postbank will acquire the entire banking operations of Alpha Bank's Bulgarian Branch, which consisted of EUR 464 M of assets including EUR 307 M of net loans, and EUR 261 M of customer deposits as of end of September.

Postbank will also acquire the retail network of Alpha Bank Bulgarian branch consisting of 82 units. After the completion of the deal, Postbank will become the fourth biggest bank in Bulgaria in terms of deposits and loans.

"Postbank is expected to benefit from significant synergies from the second year post completion of the acquisition, maintaining its strong capital ratios and substantial liquidity buffers," the statement read.

"The transaction is capital neutral for Alpha Bank, and is fully aligned with its corporate strategy of divesting from non-core markets."

Completion of the deal is is expected to take place during the first quarter of next year subject to regulatory and supervisory approvals.