The Lanitis family, the second largest shareholder in the Laiki Bank Group with a 8.6% stake, has welcomed the participation of the Greek Marfin Financial Group in the share capital of Laiki but has also stressed that Marfin does not control the Bank.
Marios Lanitis, representing the interests of the Lanitis family, told the Financial Mirror that the most positive aspect of the deal is that the uncertainty over the intentions of HSBC has been cleared.
“Laiki Bank has turned a new page in its 100-year history. Certainly the exit of HSBC is not something to rejoice about, but it’s also not the end of the world,” said Lanitis.
In fact, he added that the equity participation of Marfin in Laiki is a plus factor, since in addition to the fact that Marfin has agreed to underwrite Laiki’s forthcoming rights issue, “there is now a lot of room for cooperation between the two banks in the expansion drive in Greece and the Balkans.”
Lanitis said the fact that HSBC decided to sell its stake to Marfin and Tosca Investment Fund means that the two met its criteria and will not be to the detriment of the rest of Laiki shareholders.
Marios Lanitis, however, disagreed with reports that Marfin now has effective control of Laiki Bank following the purchase of the 9.98% stake.
He believes that the 8.18% stake purchased by Tosca Investment Fund, which manages over GBP 3 bln in investments, is not linked to Marfin, “otherwise the Central Bank of Cyprus would not allow the deal to proceed in view of the 10% maximum cap placed on bank holding by any individual group.”
“Our family has a 8.6% stake in Laiki but we have never claimed or sought control of the Bank, and I disagree with the comment that Marfin is in effective control of the Bank. Following the HSBC exit, Laiki Bank Group has broadened its share capital base.”
Lanitis expressed his satisfaction at the fact that HSBC decided to sell 3% of its stake to Laiki staff at the same price of CYP 1.70 as that sold to Marfin and Tosca, which is at a 23% discount compared to the price prevailing on the CSE before the announcement was made.
Once the deal is formalised and the transfer of shares completed, then Lanitis will look forward to a good cooperation with the representatives of the new buyers at board level with the objective of boosting shareholder value for all shareholders, irrespective of the size of their holding.
