With the proposed sale of the troubled stricken bank, the French lender intends to shift its presence from Greece, as reported by the Financial Times.
Eurobank said in a statement, "Eurobank today submitted a binding offer to buy 100% of the shares of Emporiki Bank from Credit Agricole."
A top Greek banker told the Financial Times, "Crédit Agricole simply wants to walk out, because it has lost too much money and is not apparently optimistic about the prospects of the banking sector and the country. The French bank would have divested earlier if possible."
Emporiki has a whooping €23bn loans in the Greek market, and to get rid from this the Greek banking unit will enable Credit Agricole to reduce future losses in the country.
As per the French bank sale plan, it intends to manage less than 10% equity stake in the event of sale of Emporiki and consequently formation of the new entity.
Emporiki Bank has become a serious cause of concern for Crédit Agricole, as the bank had already galloped €10bn, since it purchased the Greek unit in 2006 and still need more funds to keep floating.
