CREDIABANK-EUROPE HOLDING: With a valuation in the range of 309 million euros , the bank is acquiring the insurance company.The amount is derived from the closing price of the two shares on the day prior to the announcement of the plan (€2.165 for Europe Holding and €1.242 for CrediaBank), and includes a capital return of €0.31 per share to the insurance company prior to the merger.
The valuation, of course, is “variable" as it depends on the performance of the two shares.
The above valuation indicates that no premium was granted, but rather a small discount of -2.7%, even though CrediaBank is effectively acquiring control of the insurance company.
Based on the structure of the deal, in practice, Europe Holding shareholders indirectly receive a portion of the value in cash (through a capital return) and “exchange” EVR’s insurance growth story for Credia’s banking-insurance growth story.
Yesterday’s trading session showed that the bank’s shareholders viewed the deal (which does not involve a premium payment) positively. The stock closed at €1.25, up 0.64%, while Eleni Vrettou outlined the benefits for the bank.
In contrast, Europe Holding’s stock came under pressure. It closed at €1.988, down 8.18%, with heavy trading volume reaching €1.8 million.
Market sources attribute this performance to a number of factors. Some may have expected a more aggressive growth narrative, while others, having locked in profits, wanted to secure them rather than trade on the narrative and wait for the merger completion process.
Arbitrage based on the discount likely played a role as well. In any case, the insurance company’s shareholders will hold a stake of just over 9% in CrediaBank.
CREDIA BANK II: The agreement for the bank to absorb Europe Holdings will not only not“burn”capital but will increase CET1 by approximately 1.4%, as explained by the bank’s management.
It is customary for banks to deduct the acquisition cost from their equity when they purchase insurance companies. However, Crediabank is acquiring a holding company that has stakes/subsidiaries in insurance companies (Europe AEGA) and brokerage firms, while simultaneously maintaining a portfolio of real estate and investments.
According to Crediabank’s Chief Risk Officer, Georgios Kouroumalos, the bank has the flexibility, under supervisory rules, to retain its holdings in insurance and brokerage firms without consolidation, at a 250% factor.
The merger will boost CET 1 capital by approximately €90 million, after deducting intangible assets and goodwill. Risk-weighted assets will increase by approximately €165 million. The final result will bring CET1 on a pro forma basis to 18% from 16.6%.
P.S.: The acquisition of 79.03% of HSBC Malta by Crediabank will be completed in about a year, as reported by the domestic bank in its financial statements.
INTRACOM: The company’s Board of Directors proposes distributing €15 million to shareholders from the net profits for the 2025 fiscal year (€0.18 per share), with a record date of June 22.
Additionally, the Board recommends the payment of bonuses totaling €4 million from distributable profits to its members and senior executives.
Finally, the adoption of a two-year share buyback program (up to 10% of the share capital) is proposed, with a minimum price of 0.30 euros and a maximum of 10 euros.
SYRIZA: The moment of (official) truth is approaching for SYRIZA, as Socrates Famellos has finally decided to convene the bodies that… have been making noise for some time now both within and outside the party.
Next week, the Political Secretariat will meet (following the official presentation of Tsipras’s party), with decisions to be referred to the Central Committee on June 6, after the three-day Holy Spirit holiday, on whose inspiration Koumoundourou is evidently pinning her hopes.
What decisions? Whether SYRIZA will remain active and whether it will“run”in the national elections… and how.
The leadership’s hope is that Alexis Tsipras will accept, even at the last minute, electoral cooperation with other parties—that is, with SYRIZA—but this is something that (according to his interlocutors) has absolutely no chance of happening.
What remains? To join another electoral coalition“of forces and personalities”(“such as Louka Katseli,” they say) and try his luck. They would also like Petros Kokkalis to join, but those in the know say the former MEP is leaning toward Alexis.
Or, while not suspending its operations, the party might not participate in the elections at all, and some of its officials might join the electoral lists of Tsipras’s party, according to an “extreme scenario” we reported a few days ago…
POLAKIS: Until the… party machinery gets underway, however, Koumoundourou has one more thorny question to answer: will it allow Pavlos Polakis to take part in their meetings?
For now, party leadership officials insist: “No,” because, they say, he participated in the party bodies in his capacity as a party MP, so since that capacity no longer exists, neither does his participation.
Others, however, who are more level-headed and … by no means“Polak-like,”counter that the above provisions do not exist in SYRIZA’s charter, which was adopted at last year’s party congress.“Based on a political decision, we said that MPs are elected as ex officio members of the Central Committee, but we did not include this in the party constitution,”they explain.
Perhaps this is the answer to the question of why Mr. Polakis has not yet been referred to the Ethics Committee to be expelled from the party as well.“On the basis of which statutory violation will he be expelled?” they ask, either sincerely or… rhetorically.
Some sources even suggest that the chairman of said committee, the experienced and level-headed Fotis Kouvelis, shows no inclination whatsoever to recommend Pavlis’s expulsion.
The next two weeks are therefore expected to be very difficult for the long-suffering party that once held power.
PARLIAMENT: Following yesterday’s “no” vote by the governing majority in Parliament on referring former ministers Spilios Livanos and Fotini Arabatzis to a preliminary investigation (regarding OPEKEPE), today the New Democracy party is taking a harder line on the wiretapping issue.
The session will include a debate and vote on PASOK’s second proposal to establish an Investigative Committee, following new (judicial) evidence that has emerged regarding the surveillance of politicians, armed individuals, businesspeople, and journalists.
Normally, the decision can be passed with just 120 “yes” votes, since the minority has this right and may exercise it up to twice during a parliamentary term (note: it has exercised it once, regarding the Tempi incident).
However, according to all the information circulating late into the night (although officially the response was “we’ll see, we haven’t decided”) New Democracy representatives will raisea “side issue”— national security—and will request that a decision be made with 151 votes in favor.
They will also argue that there is no reason to establish a second investigative committee on wiretapping, since no new evidence has emerged since 2022, when the first one was formed.
“Then why are you asking for 151 ‘yes’ votes when in 2022 you agreed to a decision with only 120?” the opposition will rightly ask, denouncing the New Democracy party’s contradictory stance. The New Democracy response is awaited with interest.
PASOK: Atanother time, the official opposition would likely move to table a motion of no confidence against the government.
The unpredictable factor… of the Final 4, however, seems to have thrown a wrench in the works, since the three-day debate in Parliament that follows a motion of no confidence will coincide with the premier basketball tournament—and we needn’t say which contest the public will choose.
After all, when Nikos Androulakis was asked about this by reporters the day before yesterday, he replied thathe “will respect the fans’ sentiments”…
KONSTANTOPOULOU: We have pointed out on other occasions that Zoi Konstantopoulou’s tactic of turning the Parliament into a circus whenever she chooses to attack one or two New Democracy officials or ministers has become more picturesque than the caldera of Santorini.
Yesterday she did it again, accusing Mr. Kairidis of denying the Pontic Genocide. He“bit thebait,” as they say, and she accused him of “panicking” because he feels threatened by the Karistianos party. She compared her to Golden Dawn leader Nikos Michaloliakosand, after reminding her that he is in prison,“warned”her that she would meet the same fate.
As everyone can imagine… chaos ensued once again, with the president of the Freedom Movement evoking axes and holocausts, speaking of fascist practices, accusing the New Democracy party of having “adopted” the orphans of the Spartans, and other related matters.
A short while later, following another clash with Giorgos Floridis, the Minister of Justice made insinuations about her mental state: “I can’t help you; I’m a lawyer, I don’t have the scientific training to help you, ” he said, adding:“Ms. Konstantopoulou, there is a comedy featuring Giorgos Konstantinou, in which he climbs onto a bench. You give me the impression that you are dangerously close to doing the same.”
For those who don’t remember, the scene is from the Greek film“Wake Up, Vasilis,”where the protagonist is in a mental hospital and has climbed onto a bench pretending to be a rooster…
Her response? That when a woman reacts and is assertive, they call her “crazy,” just as they called Ioanna of Lorraine “crazy,” concluding: “Perhaps it will be the ‘crazy’ ones who will lead you to justice”…
This is roughly how (or even worse) the clashes with and from Ms. Konstantopoulou in Parliament will continue until the elections—especially if Maria Karistianou’s party, newly formed yesterday, takes a hit in the polls against Plevsi…
GEORGIOPOULOS: Peter Georgiopoulos is making a dynamic return to the VLCC market, nearly a decade after leaving the industry, through a major order for newly built tankers in China.
The Greek shipowner and his partner, Leonidas Vrontis, through United Overseas Group ( UOG), have confirmed an order for six 319,000 dwt VLCCs, with an option for four more vessels, at the Chinese shipyard Wison New Energies.
Deliveries are expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2027, while shipping brokerage sources estimate that the cost of each vessel is approximately $125 million.
Georgiopoulos described VLCCs as a“key element of global energy transport,” while Mr. Vrontis spoke of“disciplined growth through selective investments in a modern fleet.”
FRAGOU: The return of Greek shipowners to the VLCC market continues, with Angeliki Frangou confirming an order for up to eight very large crude carriers through the U.S.-listed Navios Maritime Partners.
The company announced, as part of its first-quarter results, an agreement for four VLCCs with a capacity of 319,000 dwt, equipped with scrubbers, with a total value of $482 million. The vessels are expected to be delivered in the second half of 2028 and have secured employment for five years at a daily net charter rate of $47,763, with an option to extend for an additional year at $52,650 per day.
Meanwhile, Navios holds options for four additional vessels, without any immediate capital commitment. According to market sources, the vessels will be built at the Chinese Wuhu Shipyard, at a cost of just over $120 million per vessel.
PAPPAS: 2026 got off to a strong start for Star Bulk Carriers, as the U.S.-listed shipping company owned by Petros Pappas announced a significant increase in profits and dividends, benefiting from the momentum in the dry bulk market.
The company, with a fleet of 136 vessels, posted net profits of $58.5 million in the first quarter, compared to just $462,000 in the same period of 2025. Revenue increased by 22% to $281.1 million, while the average daily rate (TCE) stood at $18,439, up from $12,439 a year ago.
Star Bulk increased its dividend for the third consecutive quarter to $0.50 per share, implementing its new policy of distributing all free cash flow to shareholders.
Petros Pappas stated that, based on current estimates, the company aims to return over $3 per share to shareholders by 2026.
Meanwhile, the company is taking delivery of the first two newly built Kamsarmax vessels from a series of eight ships being built in China.
MARTINOS: An LNG carrier that until recently belonged to the Greek Thenamaris Group, owned by shipowner Dinos Martinou, now appears to be part of Russia’s so-called“shadow fleet,”as it changed its flag and name just a few weeks after its sale.
The ship, with a capacity of 155,000 cubic meters of LNG and built in 2007, was known as the “Cool Rider” when it was sold in April. It was initially renamed “Queen Cassiopeia” and then, as of May 1, appears as “Arctic Express” under the Russian flag. This was preceded by successive flag changes from Antigua and Barbuda to Sierra Leone and finally to Russia.
The sale had already sparked intense interest in the LNG market, as the price of approximately $80 million was considered much higher than the ship’s estimated market value, which was placed between $55 and $60 million.
Market sources report that such transactions are often carried out through intermediary companies that pass the initial compliance checks, before the ships are resold to unidentified interests and reappear on Russian LNG routes.