Piraeus may sell its Bank of Cyprus stake

Bank of Piraeus S.A. is in consultation with foreign investment houses for the disposal of its 8.19% participation in the share capital of BOC through a private placement according to Greek press reports.

As stated in the Bank of Piraeus conference call that followed the release of its 9M06 results in early November, the management stressed that if no deal is reached between the two parties soon then Piraeus will consider disposing of its stake in BOC in early 1Q07. Piraeus has recently been selling small lots through the CSE every time the share price has approached the EUR 10 per share level. Based on current prices, Piraeus has a EUR 100 mln profit on its investment.