OREANDA-NEWS. August 30, 2011. The Boards of Directors of Eurobank EFG and Alpha Bank (Greece) announced that they reached an agreement to merge their operations, which will result in the establishment of a leading bank in Greece and the Group that will be among the top 25 largest Eurozone banking groups with total assets of EUR 146 billion (as of 1H 2011, excluding Poland).

The new group will have leading positions across all major banking segments in Greece and will enjoy the largest network of branches nationwide. It will have extensive presence in Southern Europe with a network of 1,300 branches in 8 countries and TOP-3 market positions in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Romania and Serbia. The new group will have total international gross loan assets of approximately EUR21 billion across a combined international network, which will rank the Group as one of the main players in the core markets of its presence.

The merger of equals will lead to the establishment of an unprecedentedly strong European banking group with significantly enhanced capital buffers (to approximately EUR3,9 billion) that will play a significant role in the development of a banking market both in Greece and in the New Europe.

“The consolidation of two major Greek banks into one strong group will play a very positive role for the country’s entire banking sector. The shared values of excellence and a client centric business model of the newly formed group will lead to further improvement of services offered to clients both in Greece and other countries of its presence. This is an exciting positive development that inspires us to continue doing our best in order to reach our strategic targets, which remain the same, as well as makes us even more confident in our success”, said Miltiadis Papanikolaou, CEO of Universal Bank.

Key highlights of the new group:

Total assets - EUR146 billion (as of 1H 2011, excluding Poland)

Operating income - EUR5 billion

Core tier 1 ratio – 10.7%

Network – 2,276 branches