Pancreta Bank

The merger of Attica Bank and Pancreta Bank was finalized on Wednesday, creating the fifth largest bank in Greece by estimated assets.

According to the official announcement, the merger was completed within demanding timelines and at unprecedented speed - just weeks after the shareholders' agreement - signaling a new era for the unified bank and the country's financial system.

The birth of a "fifth pole" with the absorption of Pancreta Bank by Attica Bank is the first significant change in Greece's banking sector for several years. The merged bank aims at competing on an equal footing with the "big four" banks (Alpha, Eurobank, National and Piraeus).

The bank that will result from the merger of Attica Bank and Pancreta Bank is aiming at becoming a strong fifth pole in Greek banking, besides the current "big four" (Alpha, Eurobank, National, Piraeus).

With an increased majority, the ruling party ND (New Democracy) and PASOK-KINAL voted for the Ministry of Finance and National Economy’s bill “Ratification of the 18.7.2024 Merger and Investment Agreement between the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund and the limited liability company THRIVEST HOLDING LTD” for the merger of Attica Bank with Pancreta Bank in the plenary session.

The time is approaching for the share capital increase of Attica Bank, whose management this week expects DBRS Morningstar's evaluation of its bad-loan portfolio so that it can be included in the "Hercules 3″ bonds program of the state.

The streamlining of Attica Bank and its merger with Pancreta Bank will require a new share capital increase, which according to information will possibly even reach 600 million euros.

Athens-listed lottery and sports betting company Intralot signed an agreement for the issue of a new bond loan agreement of up to 100 million euros and duration to June 30, 2025, it said on Thursday.

On July 31, Pancreta Bank absorbed the Greek assets of global banking colossus HSBC, taking in a highly complementary business and, in effect, creating a new bank, far from its 1993 origins as a cooperative bank named Credit Development Cooperative of Heraklion.

In an interview with Kathimerini, CEO Antonis Vartholomeos explains that upcoming mergers will further expand the bank.

The issues of the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund's divestment from Greek banks and the expansion of the Hercules program were at the center of the meeting held this week by Minister of National Economy Kostis Hatzidakis with the Hellenic Bank Association.

The new Hercules program will include three pending securitizations amounting to 3 billion euros.

Pancreta Bank will make the first significant and fundamental step toward the creation of a strong bank in Greece with the full absorption of HSBC's operations in the country on July 28.

This will be followed by the completion of the mergers with Central Macedonia Bank and with Attica Bank.