Quote from Daal:
Any info on what happens to shareholders?
My 2 Euro cents for what it is worth:
Reuters is reporting the two banks are having board meetings, so let's assume that a deal will be done.
Also it was halted at 7.08am in New York.
http://nasdaqtrader.com/Trader.aspx?id=TradeHalts
As above, NBG (ETE) market cap is
956.09 million shares * 2.10 = 2,007.79 million EUR
EUROB Market cap
552.95 * 1.15 = 635.89 million EUR
So obviously NBG is the larger of the two.
Previous experience in 2011 (NBG bid for Alpha Bank) suggests that the initial reaction is for share prices of both banks to rise. This is confirmed with premarket trade in NBG, in the last hour it was bid in the 2.70s.
However,
the terms of any deal have not yet been announced, and it's reasonable to assume that if a merger happens, the terms would be more favourable for EUROB (target) rather than NBG (predator).
Short-term: Expect both NBG and EUROB share prices to rise, maybe by 10% when the halt ends.
Long-term: In all likelihood the recapitalization of both NBG and EUROB will have a far more significant impact on the share prices of both companies. Also keep in mind that EUROB has a 3.97 billion EUR capital hole that needs filling.
I am still short NBG.
For what it's worth, a similar gap higher in late August 2011 (I think this was the announcement of a NBG and Alpha Bank deal?) turned out to be a blowoff top from which NBG has not yet recovered.