MARFIN FINANCIAL GROUP HOLDINGS S.A. announces that the Board of Directors of the Company during its meeting of 10.1.2007 decided the sale of its entire shareholding in MARFIN BANK Α.Τ.Ε. to its parent company MARFIN POPULAR BANK PUBLIC CO LTD for a total consideration of approximately euro 600 million. The sale is expected to take place by no later than the end of February, pending a relevant decision to be taken in the meanwhile by the Board of Directors of MARFIN POPULAR BANK PUBLIC CO LTD, while the exact sale price will be determined by a valuation report conducted by an independent audit firm which will be mutually appointed by both parties.
In addition, the Board of Directors decided to propose to the Ordinary General Shareholders Meeting, which will be convened by the Board of Directors following the approval of the Annual Financial Statements, the following items:
a) renaming of the Company to MARFIN INVESTMENT GROUP (MIG) and the concentration of its activities into buy-out and equity investments in Greece, Cyprus and the wider South Eastern European region;
b) the distribution to the shareholders, in the form of both return of capital and a dividend, of approximately euro 850 million;
c) a share capital increase of approximately euro 5 billion in order to fund the new activities of the Company. The proposal by the Board of Directors regarding the detailed terms of the share capital increase will be finalized following the approval of the Annual Financial Statements by the Board of Directors. It is expected however that the share capital increase will take place by means of waiving of the preferential rights of the main shareholder while the shares corresponding to the waived rights will be allocated via a private placement, at the discretion of the Board of Directors, to domestic and international strategic and institutional investors.
Following completion of the share capital increase, the Group of MARFIN POPULAR BANK PUBLIC CO LTD will provide advisory and investment banking services to MARFIN INVESTMENT GROUP with an annual remuneration of 1% of the net asset value of the latter.