ATE Bank takes over Mindbank

ATE Bank of Greece announced it took over a 57.125% stake in Romanian-based Mindbank, for which it paid approximately 36m euros. “The business plan has already been drafted, and the process will be finalised once a new CEO for Mindbank is appointed, which is expected to happen in the next two months,” ATE Bank representatives stated. Sources close to the process state the Greeks will most likely look for a manager who is highly familiar with the Romanian banking market. ATE Bank plans to change the entire management team of Mindbank and to appoint a new “executive” team, to be completely separate from the members of the bank’s managing board. ATE Bank, the fifth-largest lending institution in Greece in terms of market value, signed the purchase contract two months ago to take over the majority stake in the Romanian bank. The deal between the two sides was handled by Capital Partners investment house, set up by three former bankers.