OUR COURSE
Along with its organic growth during the
decades of 1990 and 2000, Piraeus Bank
has made a series of strategic acquisitions
and mergers aiming to establish a strong
presence in the domestic market. Thus, in
1998, the Bank absorbed the activities of
Chase Manhattan in Greece, took over con-
trolling interest in Macedonia-Thrace Bank
and acquired the specialized bank Credit
Lyonnais Hellas. In 1999, the Bank acquired
Xiosbank and absorbed the activities of
National Westminster Bank Plc in Greece. In
2000, Piraeus Bank absorbed its two com-
mercial banks in Greece (Macedonia-Thrace
Bank and Xiosbank). In 2002, Piraeus Bank
acquired
the
Hellenic
Industrial
Development Bank (ETBAbank), which was
absorbed in December 2003.
Piraeus Bank Group, in the context of
implementing its strategy for expansion in
Southeastern Europe and Eastern
Mediterranean markets, acquired Pater
Credit Bank in Romania in 2000 (renamed
into Piraeus Bank Romania). In 2005
acquired the Bulgarian Eurobank (renamed
into Piraeus Βank Bulgaria), strengthening
its 12 year presence in Bulgaria.
Furthermore, in 2005, Piraeus entered the
Serbian market by acquiring Atlas Bank
(renamed into Piraeus Bank Beograd).
Finally, in 2007, Piraeus Group expanded its
international presence in Ukraine by
acquiring the International Commerce Bank
(renamed into Piraeus Bank ICB) and in
Cyprus by establishing Piraeus Bank Cyprus
through the acquisition of the Arab Bank
Cypriot network.
In 2012, Piraeus Bank acquired the "good"
part of Agricultural Bank (selected assets
and liabilities) and Geniki Bank, a former
subsidiary of Societe Generale. In March
2013, Piraeus Bank acquired the Greek
banking operations of Bank of Cyprus,
Cyprus Popular Bank and Hellenic Bank. In
June 2013, Piraeus Bank acquired
Millennium Bank Greece, a subsidiary of
BCP. In April, 2015 Piraeus Bank acquired
the “healthy” part of Panellinia Bank. These
transactions comprise important steps
towards the restructuring of the Greek
banking system, in which Piraeus Bank has
participated from the very beginning as a
core pillar. Piraeus Bank has successfully
completed the integration of all the afore-
mentioned 2012-2015 banking acquisitions
in its systems, offering to all its customers
a unique banking experience.
In November 2015, Piraeus Bank sold its
participation (98.5%) in Piraeus Bank
Egypt S.A.E, to Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait
K.S.C.P.
In December 2015, Piraeus Bank announced
the full coverage of the share capital
increase by an amount totaling to € 2.6 bn,
by issuing 8,672,163,482 new common vot-
ing shares. The new shares were allocated
to qualified investors under private place-
ment, to holders of Non Transferable
Receipts under the Liability Management
Exercise and to the Financial Stability Fund
pursuant to the decision of the Bank's
Extraordinary General Meeting of 15.11.2015.
Furthermore, in order to cover part of
Piraeus’ capital needs as they were assessed
by the Asset Quality Review (AQR) and
Stress Test released by the European Central
Bank in October 2015 under the adverse
scenario, the Bank issued Contingent
Convertible Bonds for an amount of € 2.0
bn.
Τhe recapitalization of Piraeus Bank
increased the Group’s total equity to €10.0
bn at end of December 2015. The Group’s
Common Equity Tier-1 ratio (pro-forma for
the discontinued operations of Piraeus
Bank Cyprus and ATE Insurance) reached
17.8% at the end of 2015, while the fully
loaded Basel III Common Equity Tier-1 ratio
reached 16.6%. Accordingly, current capital
ratios render Piraeus Bank as one of the
strongest capitalized banks in Europe.
WHAT WE DO
Piraeus Bank today leads a group of com-
panies covering all financial activities in
the Greek market (universal bank). Piraeus
Bank possesses particular know-how in the
areas of medium-sized and small enterpris-
es, in agricultural banking, in consumer
and mortgage credit and green banking,
capital markets and investment banking, as
well as leasing and factoring. These servic-
es are offered through nation-wide network
of 709 branches and 1,817 ATMs, and also
through its innovative electronic banking
platform of Winbank.
Piraeus Bank Group possesses an interna-
tional presence consisting of 280 branches
focused in Southeastern Europe. In particu-
lar, the Group operates in Romania through
Piraeus Bank Romania with 120 branches,
in Bulgaria through Piraeus Bank Bulgaria
with 75 branches, in Albania through Tirana
Bank with 39 branches, in Serbia with 26
branches of Piraeus Bank Beograd, in
Ukraine with 18 branches of Piraeus Bank
ICB, in London and Frankfurt with a branch
of Piraeus Bank each.
