Piraeus Bank to try to avoid issuing CoCos
Tuesday’s general meeting of Piraeus Bank shareholders concluded with the decision to increase its share capital by 7.335 billion euros in the context of the credit sector’s recapitalization.
Up to 400 million euros will be covered by investors through private placement and the partial abolition of the preferential rights for old shareholders. Portugal’s Millennium bcp will contribute 400 million euros from the deal for the concession of its Greek subsidiary, Millennium Bank, to Piraeus, while France’s Societe Generale will participate with 170 million euros from a similar deal concerning the concession of Geniki Bank.
Piraeus will try to tap the market for the remaining 163.5 million euros needed to reach the 10 percent threshold that will save it from nationalization without having to issue convertible bonds (CoCos).
With the absorption of Millennium Bank, which was confirmed on Monday, Piraeus is becoming Greece’s biggest bank in terms of assets, which amount to 103 billion euros. It has a positive net position again of an estimated 800 million euros and its capital adequacy index exceeds 14 percent.
