Piraeus Bank withdrew its proposal to buy the Agricultural Bank of Greece together with Post Bank. The financial institution made a formal offer to the Greek government two months and a half ago after the Agricultural Bank did not pass the European stress tests. The government appointed then three international consultants to assess the offer - HSBC, the consulting company Larazd and the London branch of Deutsche Bank. They had to announce their decision on October 1, but subsequently requested to postpone it.
The decision of Piraeus Bank was announced by the Vice Manager Stavros Lekakos and the reason for it was the delayed purchasing procedure.
The Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou gave an interview to Reuters some days ago and stated that the country must have one strong state-owned bank and two or three private banks. Even then observers interpreted his words as a clear sign that the Greek government does not want to sell the Agricultural Bank. On the other hand, rumours of future merger of Piraeus Bank with the Cyprus Marfin Egnatia are getting more and more serious.
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