• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Photos: Vassilis Vafidis

Until recently, EFG Eurobank was the third largest bank in Greece with more than 300 branches throughout the country. It was established in 1990 under the name of "Euromerchant Bank" and its main scope of activity was to render mainly investment and banking services. After the liberalization of the banking sector in Greece, the Bank changed its strategic goals.

In 1994, it bought 75% of the share of EFG Private Bank S.A. based in Luxembourg. Two years later, it bought the Greek Interbank and the two banks merged in 1997. That same year, the Bank bought the network of branches of the French Credit Lyonnais in Greece and its name changed to EFG Eurobank.
 
In 1998, the Bank bought 99.8% of the share of Kritis Bank. A year later, EFG Eurobank merged with Athens Bank and bought 50.1% of the share of Ergasias Bank.

In 1999, the two banks merged. The new EFG Eurobank Ergasias bought 19.25% of the share of the Romanian Bank Post.

In 2002, EFG Eurobank Ergasias merged with the investment bank Telesis. Then, it bought 50% of the share of the company Alico / CEH Balkan Holdings, thus obtaining 43% stake in the Bulgarian Post Bank.

Over the next years, the Bank continued to develop dynamically and to expand in Bulgaria, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine. In 2011, an unsuccessful attempt was made to merge with Alpha Bank. In late 2012, the National Bank of Greece NBG bought Eurobank Ergasias and the final merger is expected to take place later this year.