Geniki, Piraeus deal gets green light

The Greek ministry of development on Thursday approved the merger of Piraeus Bank and Geniki Bank, with the former fully absorbing the latter following a decision by both lenders’ boards of directors.

Piraeus Bank had been considering a plan to transform Geniki into a lender specializing in restructuring troubled companies but eventually opted for fully absorbing the lender and its staff.

Figures dating back to the end of December pointed to Geniki’s assets standing at 2.67 billion euros, deposits at 2.17 billion euros and loans at 1.79 billion euros.

The Piraeus Group took control of Geniki in December 2012 following an agreement with its previous main shareholder, France's Societe Generale.