EFG Eurobank Ergasias agrees to buy mutual fund manager Intertrust
EFG Eurobank-Ergasias announced yesterday it had agreed to fully acquire Intertrust, Greece’s fifth-largest mutual fund manager by assets, for an undisclosed amount, consolidating its top rank in the sector. «Eureko, parent company of Interamerican, and Novabank have agreed to the terms under which Eurobank will acquire 100 percent of Intertrust,» Eurobank, the country’s third-largest lender by assets said. The deal is subject to due diligence and approval by the securities regulator, the Bank of Greece and the competition commission. Novabank is controlled by Portugal’s Banco Comercial Portugues (BCP), which owns 50 percent plus one share. Businessman Dimitris Kontominas holds 40 percent of the bank and Greek insurer Interamerican owns 10 percent. Intertrust, with about 2.2 billion euros assets under management at the end of last year, manages a variety of equity, bond and money market funds under the Interamerican and Novabank brands. «The agreement does not include the management of Novabank’s family of funds, which currently amount to 400 million euros,» Eurobank said. Under the deal, Interamerican will continue to distribute funds under its own label. Eurobank’s EFG fund management subsidiary already ranks top with 26.2 percent market share of the business with 8 billion euros in assets. The industry’s total assets under management amounted to 30.6 billion euros in May. (Reuters)
