HSBC has chosen a Greek bank as its preferred bidder to take over its Malta branch, which has now been up for sale for a number of months, the bank said in an announcement on the Malta Stock Exchange on Friday.
“The Bank has been informed by HSBC Holdings that it has identified a preferred bidder and has entered into exclusive discussions with CrediaBank S.A. (formerly known as Attica Bank) with regard to its majority shareholding in the Bank. HSBC Holdings advised that no agreement has been reached yet and the strategic review remains ongoing,” the company said.
CrediaBank, which up until a rebrand last month was known as Attica Bank, is Greece’s fifth largest bank and was the first formal EU bidder to take over HSBC’s Malta branch.
“Any potential transaction would be subject to a number of conditions including regulatory approval from both the MFSA and the European Central Bank (“ECB”), a process that would be expected to take several months from entry into any binding agreement. HSBC Holdings plc has confirmed that it remains committed to supporting the Bank, its customers and its employees throughout this process. The Bank also confirms that it is business as usual for its customers,” the company said.
It is believed that the bid received the blessing of the Greek government and is viewed favourably locally, particularly compared to other bidders which were interested in acquiring HSBC’s Malta branch.
There were significant red flags over interest by Armenian bank Ardshinbank and Hungarian bank OTP, which the Bank of Georgia’s parent company Lion Finance Group was not viewed too favourably since they are not in the EU or the Eurozone.
Local bank APS had, for a period, been interested in acquiring the branch, but pulled out immediately after receiving “confidential information” external to the due diligence process.
CrediaBank has a history spanning just over a century, having been founded as Attica Bank in 1924 and listed on the Greek stock exchange forty years later in 1964.
It has something of a history with HSBC already: in summer of 2023, the multi-national bank left Greece and had its operations there taken over by Pancreta Bank, which then merged with Attica a year later.
The Greek government is a major shareholder in the bank, with just over 36% of the shares, and it is believed that it lobbied heavily with the Maltese government over the bid.