ATHENS (Reuters) – Alpha Bank, one of Greece’s four largest lenders, said on Friday it had hired JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs as advisers on a plan to boost capital by about 800 million euros ($978.16 million) to fund its growth plan.
“The proposed capital raising seeks to take advantage of favourable market conditions and its strong financial position,” the bank said in a bourse filing.
The bank said it views prospects for the Greek economy as “especially positive” and wants to support the government’s efforts to boost economic growth and attract foreign investment.
Alpha’s shares were down 28% to 0.88 euros on the Athens stock exchange.
Separately, sources told Reuters that Italian payments group Nexi is in talks with Alpha Bank to take a stake in the Greek bank’s retailers’ payment business.
Alpha Bank, 11%-owned by the country’s bank rescue fund HFSF, reported a net profit of 103.7 million euros last year versus net earnings of 105.3 million euros in 2019.
($1 = 0.8179 euros)
(Reporting by George Georgiopoulos; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
