Cypriot bank branches in Greece to reopen on Wednesday

The branches of three Cypriot banks in Greece will reopen on Wednesday after Greece’s Piraeus Bank agreed to take them over, a finance ministry official said on Tuesday.

Piraeus later confirmed the Cypriot banks, which have been closed since March 19, would open on Wednesday.

Greece’s Piraeus Bank reached an agreement Tuesday to buy the Greek operations of three Cypriot banks for €524 million ($678 million).

 Piraeus, which was selected last Friday to take over the Greek units of the Bank of Cyprus, Laiki and Hellenic, will see its share of loans in the Greek market from 19 percent to 27 percent. Its three new additions have combined assets of €16.4 billion ($21.2 billion) and take Piraeus’ branches up to 1,600 and employees to 24,000.

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