HSBC Holdings plc said Thursday that it has reached agreement for the sale of its 21.16% shareholding in The Cyprus Popular Bank Public Company Limited, for a consideration of approximately USD 235 mln or CYP 112 mln in cash. The purchasers are: Marfin Financial Group, Tosca Fund and Laiki Bank (Nominees) Ltd. HSBC Holdings plc

Book-building to decide on price Actual listing in Q1 2006 Subscriber channel Lumiere TV Public Co. Ltd. is awaiting word from the SEC paving the way for its simultaneous dual listing on the Cyprus and Athens stock exchanges, scheduled to take place before the end of the first quarter of the year. LTV Executive Chairman

Greeks continue to snap up Cyprus companies Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in Cyprus climbed 23% year-on-year during 2005 to CYP 106.39 mln compared to CYP 86.39 mln in 2004, as Greek investors continued to snap up Cypriot bargain companies. Including the CYP 35.8 mln in related deals, whereby a Cypriot company either buys or sells

Unistream, a Moscow-based money transfer company, has applied to the Central Bank of Cyprus to obtain a license to operate a money transfer business on the island. The new company, Unistream Cyprus, will be based in Nicosia and is expected to compete with Western Union and Moneygram, but with cheaper rates that is expected to

PrimeTel, the EAC’s strategic partner in the telecommunications sector, is to launch its Triple Play service targeting 170.000 households by the beginning of April. Hermes Stephanou, PrimeTel’s Managing Director said during the company’s first official presentation that the voice-data-picture service will be competitively priced and will include many new services. “Our objective is to offer