The National Bank of Greece (NBG) and the shareholders of P&K Investment Services SA signed today the final SPA, finalizing the agreement whereby NBG will acquire 100% of P&K Investment Services with a view to creating the largest provider of integrated investment services in SE Europe.
Overview of P&K
P&K Investment Services was established in 1996. Since 2000, with the acquisition of P&K Securities and P&K MFMC, it is the largest independent provider of investment services in Greece. The P&K Group provides its services to a wide range of corporate, retail and institutional customers in Greece and abroad, and is known for the high quality of services provided, being active in Investment Banking, Asset Management and Brokerage. The P&K Group, through P&K Investment Services SA, is among the largest companies in the Greek investment banking market, having executed in the last three years equity placements of privately owned firms to institutional investors amounting to a total of Euro1.04 billion and manages Euro400 million total assets. P&K Securities is one of the two largest brokerage firms in Greece, with a market share of 12.7%, while it has accredited all of its services with the international quality certification standard EN ISO 9002. The company''s analysts have repeatedly been highly rated in the international rankings of the Extel Thomson Survey.
Overview of the agreement
The total consideration for the acquisition of the P&K Group was set at Euro 48.7 million, i.e. 1.76 the book value of P&K as at 30 June 2006 or 4.8 x the forecast profits for 2006. The main part of the consideration will be paid to the sellers upon closing. The remaining part will be released to the sellers by NBG three years after the closing of the deal (i.e. at the end of 2009), conditional on the attainment of key targets set out in the pre-agreed business plan. The transaction is expected to close within three months of today''s signing of the agreement, subject to obtaining all regulatory approvals.
Market position of the newly formed company
Following the completion of the transaction, P&K Securities, which is the brokerage company of the P&K Group, will merge with National Securities Co. The new entity to be formed as a result of the merger shall be the leader in the domestic market for the provision of brokerage products and services. The new securities company to be created, which will incorporate the dynamic and experienced management team of P&K, combined with NBG Group''s expansion in the fast growing markets of Turkey and SE Europe, will promote and sell equities from Turkey and SE Europe to the major foreign markets. The combined research department will be strong, as it has already been notably ranked for 2006 among the top three in the international rankings of the Extel Thomson Survey for the provision of quality integrated research on listed Greek companies and sectors of the Greek economy.