Church to buy MPB stake in Hellenic Bank

The Church of Cyprus has concluded an agreement to purchase the 7.17% stake of Marfin Popular Bank in the share capital of Hellenic Bank Pcl (HB), raising its stake to 24% plus.

The agreement was wrapped up during a meeting that the Archbishop of Cyprus Chrysostomos II had with MPB CEO Andreas Vgenopoulos in Nicosia on February 1, 2007. No financial details were revealed.

The issued share capital of Hellenic Bank amounts to 242.19 mln shares, last trading at EUR 3.15 per share on the Cyprus Stock Exchange. The 7.17% stake amounts to 17.365.310 shares valued at EUR 54.7 mln or CYP 31.5 mln based on current valuations.