Bank of Cyprus shareholders to decide on move from London to Athens stock exchange

The proposed return of the Bank of Cyprus to the Athens Stock Exchange after leaving in February 2017, with a parallel delisting from the London Stock Exchange, is expected to be approved by the shareholders, during an extraordinary general meeting held with the sole purpose of approving or rejecting the Board of Directors' specific decision.

The extraordinary general meeting is due to take place today, Friday, 13 September.

The decision to return the Bank of Cyprus to the Athens Stock Exchange, with simultaneous withdrawal from the London Stock Exchange, was taken last August by the Board of Directors. in the context of the re-evaluation of the group's strategy and in the light of serving the targeting set for a better presence in the markets, in order to make it easier to attract new investors.

In this regard, the Board of Directors decided that listing on the Athens Stock Exchange, combined with the delisting from the London Stock Exchange, will bring a series of long-term strategic benefits and strengthen the group's presence in the markets, which is why it proceeded to take this decision, which is being put before the shareholders for a "yes" or "no" vote.

During his speech, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the bank Efstratios-Georgios (Takis) Arapoglou is, as we have been competently informed, going to develop and extensively analyse the rationale of the decision taken by the Board of Directors last August, enumerating and explaining at the same time the benefits that the Board of Directors foresees will arise as a result of a possible implementation of the strategic nature of this move.

The expected benefits

It is noted that the benefits that are expected to arise for the complex were also explained by Arapoglou in a letter he sent to the shareholders after the Board of Directors' decision was made last August, expressing the conviction of the Board of Directors how - among other things - listing in Athens and delisting from the London Stock Exchange have the potential to increase the liquidity of ordinary shares.

Which, as he indicated, is critical to the interests of the company and its shareholders.

As indicated in more detail by the Chairman of the Board of Directors, the expected benefits revolve around four main axes, as follows:

First: A more focused market system - The Board of Directors believes that the Athens Stock Exchange is the most appropriate market for the company, as it is already focused on regional banks and other companies active in the Greek and Cypriot markets, factors that act complementary to the company.

Second: Inclusion in Indices - Although listing and delisting are expected to result in the company ceasing to be eligible for certain UK equity indices, the Board expects that, over time, it will meet the criteria to become eligible for inclusion in other stock indices.

Third: Peer Bank Comparison - Some regional banks operating in Greece and Cyprus are already listed on the Athens Stock Exchange. The board considers them to be peer banks of the company and listing the company on the same exchange will facilitate, in its view, a more direct comparison of the company's performance and other valuation metrics against this group of banks.

Fourth: Long-term Institutional Shareholders- Trading in the more centralised Athens Stock Exchange market system, potential indexation and increased ability to compare banks to peers, has the potential to attract long-term institutional shareholders who are already invested in Athens-listed companies to the company.

Joining and leaving dates

During today's extraordinary general meeting, the bank's shareholders will be asked to take a positive or negative position on two resolutions.

The first will concern the listing of the bank's shares on the Athens Stock Exchange, with simultaneous delisting of the securities from the London Stock Exchange, and the second - subject to the approval of the first resolution - concerns the approval of formal changes/amendments to the group's articles of association.

The approval of the first resolution will require a majority of more than 50% of the votes of the shareholders who will vote, either in person or by proxy, while the approval of the second will require the affirmative vote of at least 75% of the shareholders who will vote in the extraordinary general meeting

However, as everything shows, both the proposal of the Bank's Board of Directors for admission to the Athens Stock Exchange and withdrawal from the London Stock Exchange, as well as the statutory changes, will gather a strong majority and will be approved.

It is noted that based on the Bank of Cyprus' initial planning, the listing of its shares on the Athens Stock Exchange will begin on 23 September at 10.15am, while the delisting of the shares on the London Stock Exchange will take place on 19 September at 10am.

It is worth noting that for the listing of the stock on the Athens Stock Exchange, a relevant decision will have to be taken by the Admissions Committee of the Athens Stock Exchange, which is expected on 17 September.

(Source: InBusinessNews)