Read more at Reutershttp://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/11/eurozone-greece-alphabank-idUSL8N1361QL20151111#F1gBuUTc7MRmKQUj.99
(Adds details, background)
Nov 11 (Reuters) - Greece's Alpha Bank said on Wednesday it would aim to raise 1.66 billion euros ($1.78 billion) by selling new shares to help fill a 2.74 billion euro capital shortfall revealed by a European Central Bank (ECB) health check.
Greece's fourth-largest lender said the share offering, without rights for current shareholders, would take place via an international book-building expected to complete by Nov. 16.
Alpha Bank is one of four big Greek banks recently identified as having capital shortfalls in a so-called comprehensive assessment carried out by the ECB, which included an asset quality review and a stress test.
The ECB's health check revealed a 2.74 billion euro shortfall under an adverse economic scenario, and a 263 million capital hole under a baseline scenario - the smallest gap among the four Greek lenders.
Alpha, currently 66.2 percent owned by the country's bank rescue fund HFSF, has already launched a debt exchange offer to bondholders to swap up to 1.1 billion euros of junior and senior debt for new shares.
Full take up in this so-called liability management exercise will help generate equity capital, reducing its capital need to 1.66 billion euros.
"We are starting our book-building so that coupled with the liability management exercise we will not need state aid," said an official at the bank, declining to be named.
Any part of the capital shortfall identified under the ECB stress test's "adverse" scenario that is not filled by the share offering and the debt swap will be covered with state aid provided by the HFSF rescue fund.
If needed, the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund (HFSF) will provide the capital support by buying a mix of contingent convertible bonds (CoCos) and new shares the bank will issue in a ratio of 75 percent CoCos and 25 percent new stock.
The CoCos will pay an annual coupon of 8 percent.
Alpha has called a shareholders meeting on Nov. 14 to for approve the capital raising plan.
Citigroup and J.P. Morgan Securities are joint global coordinators for the offering and joint bookrunners together with Barclays Bank. BNP Paribas, Commerzbank, Nomura International and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, are co-lead managers.
($1 = 0.9315 euros)
(Reporting by George Georgiopoulos and Lefteris Papadimas; Editing by Mark Potter)
Read more at Reutershttp://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/11/eurozone-greece-alphabank-idUSL8N1361QL20151111#F1gBuUTc7MRmKQUj.99
Keine Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen