The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) is closely monitoring the non-binding takeover bids of the Bank of Cyprus filed by Lone Star and is also in consultation with both the Bank of Cyprus and the Irish Takeover Panel, the President of the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) George Theocharides has told CNA.
At the same time, on the issue of the purchase of Bank of Cyprus shares by Senvest Management LLC a competent source told CNA that Senvest sees the progress made at the Bank of Cyprus and is buying the bank’s shares.
Theocharides was invited by CNA to comment on a press release by the Bank of Cyprus holdings PLC that it has rejected three voluntary, conditional, non-binding offers from Lone Star regarding a possible cash offer for the entire issued, and to be issued, share capital of the company.
The CySEC is closely monitoring the issue to find out whether the provisions of the Law on Acquisitions are being complied with, said Theocharides.
He said some issues are under the Irish Takeover Panel and other matters under the CySEC. He explained that the responsibilities of the two supervisory authorities will have to be defined.
Meanwhile, Senvest Management LLC is impressed with the progress achieved at the Bank of Cyprus and the very good prospects and is increasing its capital share in the bank in the last months, a relevant source told CNA.
Senvest has bought around three million shares in the last three months increasing its capital share to 7.79% from 7.11% in early June.
Senvest has been increasing its shareholding in the Bank of Cyprus in recent months, seeing the progress achieved at the Bank of Cyprus and the very good prospects that are opening up following the normalization of the Non-Performing Loans of the bank, as well as the profitability prospects
Senvest began investing in Cyprus around the end of 2012 in the framework f the financial crisis and its philosophy lies in long-term investments. It is one of the largest investors, if not the largest in Cyprus banks with a total of 100-million-dollar investments in the BoC and Hellenic Bank.
Source: Cyprus News Agency