The Bank of Cyprus on Thursday announced that the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), its last remaining legacy shareholder, has sold its entire stake in the lender.

The EBRD had held a 5.1 per cent share in the Bank of Cyprus since 2014.

According to the announcement, the stake was sold at a price of €7.20 per share.

The bank emphasised that there was significant interest in the transaction from institutional investors.

It added that the final buyers were mainly long-term investors, specifically long-only funds.

The Bank of Cyprus stressed that the strong interest “demonstrated the confidence of international institutional investors in both the bank and the Cypriot economy”.

The transaction price was described as “particularly favourable, given that a large stake of the last legacy shareholder was sold at around 1.2 times tangible book value“.

It should be mentioned that the EBRD is an international financial institution that supports private sector development in over 40 countries.

The EBRD’s exit signifies Bank of Cyprus’ full return to private ownership, marking a key milestone in its post-crisis recovery

In addition, this move also highlights the EBRD’s successful role in supporting the Cypriot banking sector’s recovery and stability.