Two Greek banks are looking for buyers, who could be from across the Aegean in Turkey, according to a Turkish investment banker working on a possible deal. "We have a mandate from a small and a mid-sized Greek bank to explore the interest of potential buyers," Erol User, CEO of Istanbul-based investment banking firm USER Corp, told Reuters on Tuesday.
"The project is at very initial stages but it's moving fast," he said.
User would not identify the lenders but said one had a small network of 20-23 branches and another was mid-sized, with a network of about 300 branches. One of the two has operations outside Greece, he said.
Greek banks with networks of around 20-30 branches include Proton <PRBr.AT> and First Business Bank (FBB). Officials at both said the banks were not looking to be sold.
"I have had no such contacts in Turkey or elsewhere," FBB's CEO Stathis Papageorgiou told Reuters. An executive at Proton, who did not want to be named, said the bank was not pursuing a sale.
A bank with a network of around 300 branches in Greece is Credit Agricole's Emporiki <CBGr.AT>, which has a current market value of 1.65 billion euros ($2.01 billion) and some operations in the Balkans.
A source close to the bank's management said Emporiki was not in talks on a merger or sale and remains focused on implementing its business plan in Greece. Officials at the bank could be reached for comment. Hit by the country's debt crisis and a deepening recession, Greek lenders are looking to shield their balance sheets from rising non-performing loans and maintain a strong capital adequacy. Last month the chief executive of Ziraat Bankasi, Turkey's biggest lender by assets, said the state-owned bank had been approached by Greek banks with offers to be sold. [ID:nIST006947]
Ziraat has said in the past it aims to become a regional bank, expanding to the Balkans, Gulf states and central Asia. Turkey's government is eyeing an initial public offering for the bank.
Greece's biggest lender National Bank <NBGr.AT> ventured into Turkey in 2006 with a $3 billion euro acquisition of Finansbank, which is now the group's profit-making machine.
Greece and Turkey agreed to step up bilateral cooperation last month when Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan visited Athens. The two countries signed a series of agreements to boost trade.
"We are talking about a buyout, a cash deal, but it may end up being a partnership," User said, adding that if the deal goes through it would be of the size of 2.0 to 3.0 billion euros. He would not name Turkish banks looking to enter Greece.
He also said his firm was working on a very big project in the energy sector but would not go into specifics.
"It may be an interesting surprise at the end of the month. If the deal goes through it will make history — it's not renewable energy, not a pipeline," he said.
