Sale of Emporiki shares proves very successful
Emporiki Bank has successfully sold 5.48 million of its own shares, representing 5.2 percent of its share capital, to foreign institutional investors through the book-building process. The revenues from the transaction came to 145 million euros, with JP Morgan and UBS investment banks being the bookrunners. Emporiki officials suggested that these funds have boosted the bank’s capital structure considerably, while its capital sufficiency index has been bolstered by about 1.5 points. The sale was so successful that within two hours from the opening of the book the sale was completed, oversubscribed about two times. The settlement price reached 26.40 euros per share, just 0.5 percent below the closing price of the previous day. «We are particularly satisfied with the great demand for the bank’s own shares by foreign institutionals, which has allowed for the immediate completion of the process. The trust of foreign institutionals is encouraging the management’s efforts to restructure our group,» said Emporiki’s chairman and CEO, Giorgos Provopoulos. According to Emporiki officials, after the public offering the bank’s composition has expanded, including some of the greatest foreign institutionals, as shares held by foreigners have increased to 19 percent from 6 percent a few months ago. What attracts foreigners is that Emporiki is one of the most interesting restructuring cases in the banking sector on European level. The absence of Credit Agricole, owner of 11 percent of Emporiki, raised doubts about its determination to acquire Emporiki, while its statement implied that the capitalization was high: «By assessing the conditions of the public offering of shares and the current value of the Emporiki stock, GA has decided not to take part in the process.» But analysts do not associate the French bank’s absence with the planned privatization of Emporiki. The sale of own shares is a move to boost the bank’s capital, to be followed by a capital increase through cash payment (400-500 million euros) and the issuing of special bonds.
