Sunday evening's surprise announcement by ATHEX-listed Eurobank that it is absorbing Grivalia properties - with the approval of the latter's board of directors, as well - direclty aims to reduce the burden of NPEs on the former's balance sheets to 15 percent by the end of 2019 and to single-digit territory by the end of 2021.
The move will remove seven billion euros of NPEs from the bank's balance sheet with a single transaction, with media reports pointing to the creation of a special purpose vehicle to receive the tranche.
In a press release on Monday morning, Eurobank - one of four systemic banks in the country - said the merger "...creates the best capitalized bank in Greece, with total capital ratio at 19%."
Eurobank also refers to "derisking" its balance sheet by substantially accelerating NPE reduction to a ratio of approximately percent by the end of 2019.
