Standard Chartered eyes Piraeus Bank's Egypt unit

Standard Chartered is considering buying Piraeus Bank's Egyptian subsidiary, a deal that would boost the Greek bank as it seeks to strengthen its balance sheet in light of the downturn facing debt-laden Greece.
Greek banks, hit by the country's sovereign debt crisis, have been looking for ways to boost their capital base to cope with a protracted recession at home that has led to a rise in non-performing loans.

"The due diligence will start in the coming days. There will be a relative strengthening of Core Tier 1, which was at 10.8 percent at the end of March," a Piraeus Bank official said on Friday.

Piraeus Bank Egypt had equity capital of 103 million euros, a 737 million euros loan book, assets totalling 1.38 billion euros and 48 branches at the end of March. Standard Chartered said it did not expect a material financial impact in any deal.

Piraeus bank said in a statement that a request had been submitted to the Central Bank of Egypt so that due diligence could commence, but that there was no certainty as to whether any agreement would be reached.