Marfin Popular Bank has submitted a takeover bid seeking a minimum 35% to maximum 100% of the share capital of Bank of Cyprus through a share swap, offering 1.241 shares for every 1 BOCY share, with both stocks having the same 50 cent nominal value.
Based on the closing prices prevailing on Thursday, the last day before the stocks of all banks were suspended, the share offer values Bank of Cyprus at EUR 11.144 per share for a value of EUR 6.16 bln.
MPB had closed at EUR 8.90 and Bank of Cyprus at EUR 11.04 on the CSE on Thursday while in Greece, the closing levels were EUR 8.98 and EUR 11.14 respectively.
In the event that the bid is successful up to 90%, or more, then Marfin Popular Bank will consider to exercise the option provided under article 201 of the Company’s Law to force out the minority shareholders and lift its stake to 100%. In such a case, the titles of Bank of Cyprus would be delisted from the stock exchange since they would not meet the minimum public ownership criteria, the Marfin announcement said.
Marfin Popular Bank said that the public offer depends on the Bank securing the necessary permission from the shareholders to issue the new shares to finance the takeover and regulatory permission.
Marfin Popular Bank adds in its announcement that it is a powerful group in south east Europe, with its own capital positioning it as the number one group in Cyprus and second in Greece. The Group has a presence in 13 countries with a branch network of 300 and a market cap of EUR 6.9 bln.
So does that mean that the two biggest banks can be merged? Wouldn't that harm competition?
