KBW hits at Piraeus tactics on Marfin bid

KBW, the respected international firm has criticized the tactics followed by Piraeus Bank in its bid seeking control of Marfin Popular Bank.

KBW says the credibility of Piraeus is on the line in the event that the bid is unsuccessful due to the very low valuation offer made by Piraeus for Marfin.

KBW states that either in its opinion, Piraeus needs to improve its offer price for MPB substantially, since it views it as “unrealistic”, calling the whole strategy as a “blocking tactic” and not intended to create value for shareholders, according to Greek financial web site euro2day.gr.
For the valuation of Marfin Popular bank to drop to the average half of European p/e ratios at which similar deals were made in the EU, the “results of MPB would have to decline to 60% of the forecasted results of Management,” says KBW.

“For the deal to have a realistic chance of success, it should be balanced between fundamentals and realistic expectations,” says KBW, at the same time maintaining its maket perform bias on Piraeus shares and a price target of EUR 26 per share.