Bancpost

Prominent Greek banker Giorgos Michelis, who was appointed as Chairman of the Board of Attica Bank in late March, died on Saturday at the age of 69.

Michelis had many years of banking experience having served as CEO of Bancpost, a subsidiary of Greece's Eurobank in Romania, general manager of Emporiki Bank and executive vice president and chief operating officer at Egnatia Bank.

Romanian lender Banca Transilvania said on Friday it has received regulatory approval from the country's competition watchdog and the central bank to buy Greek Eurobank's Romanian subsidiary Bancpost.

"Banca Transilvania estimates that the closing of the transaction regarding the acquisition of Bancpost will take place during the first half of April 2018," it said in a statement.

Eurobank will maintain its Balkan footprint in Bulgaria, Serbia and Cyprus after pulling out of Romania, its deputy CEO said on Tuesday, expecting the group's subsidiaries there to double their profitability over the next few years.

Banca Transilvania, Romania's second-largest bank said on Friday it has reached an agreement with Greece's Eurobank to buy its Romanian subsidiary Bancpost and will sign the contract later in the day.

The deal, which will be subject to regulatory approval, will also give Banca Transilvania stakes in ERB Retail Services and ERB Leasing, part of the Romanaian group.

Greece's Eurobank said it is close to finalizing a deal to sell its Romanian subsidiaries to Banca Transilvania.

The potential sale is part of a restructuring plan agreed by Greece's third largest lender with European Union authorities, and includes Romanian units Bancpost, ERB Retail Servces IFN and ERB Leasing IFN.

Eurobank is in talks with Banca Transilvania to sell its subsidiaries in Romania as part of a restructuring plan agreed by Greece's third largest lender with European Union authorities.

The sale would close a decade-long chapter of ambitions by Eurobank and other Greek lenders to spread their wings abroad after the country's debt crisis forced them to retreat.

Greek lender Eurobank is looking for a strategic partner to buy a stake in its fully-owned Romanian unit Bancpost as part of moves to reduce its overall exposure in non-Greek assets, sources at the bank told Reuters on Friday.

Eurobank has hired HSBC and Mediobanca to help it find a "strategic partner" for its Romanian subsidiary, a source at the Greek bank said on Monday.

Major Greek banks are looking to reduce their exposure abroad and strengthen their capital base under the terms of the country's latest multi-billion euro financial bailout.

The Greek government named former banker Giorgos Michelis as chairman of the country?s bank rescue fund on Monday, which has been without a head since the resignation of both its chairman and chief executive earlier this year.