CYPRUS: Co-op sets sights on CSE listing

The Cooperative Central Bank got the green light to list on the Cyprus Stock Exchange on Friday, after it’s a shareholders’ extraordinary general meeting approved the merger of the 18 cooperative credit institutions (CCIs) into a single legal entity.

 
The bank, 99.5%-ownd by the government after a EUR 1.7 bln bailout in 2014 and 2015, will now head for the stock market, where the government plans to recoup its losses by gradually reducing its stake in the CCB to 25% over time.
“The legal merger constitutes a natural development in the cooperative sector’s restructuring and modernisation process, given the operational merger of the 18 CCIs and significant initiatives taken regarding the transfer of their assets and staff to the CCB,” a CCB announcement said.
The state aid went ahead following the approval of a restructuring plan by the European Commission. The revised restructuring plan stipulates that the CCB shall list on the CSE by September 2018.
The merger, the CCB added, is expected to increase the organisation’s value and to strengthen its effort to shape a contemporary corporate governance framework which would enable it to be more transparent, competitive and more attractive in view of its forthcoming entry to the CSE, which would enable “the return of the Coop sector to a more broadened and domestic share holder base.”
The announcement follows a strategic alliance the CCB secured with insurance giant Universal Life, that came into effect as of January 1 and will include the sale of UL products over the next three years.