HSBC Malta to be sold to CrediaBank for €200 million

HSBC Malta will be sold to CrediaBank for €200 million, with minority shareholders offered a price of €1.44 per share to sell their stake, the bank announced in a statement on Tuesday afternoon.

In its statement, HSBC said it has signed "an acknowledgement of a put option agreement between HSBC Continental Europe and CrediaBank" to sell a 70.03% stake in the bank, for a total price of €200 million, at a price per share of 0.793.

CrediaBank confirmed the figures in its own company announcement, published minutes later.

This figure is close to the €204 million through which HSBC Continental Europe had bought the bank from its London office in an internal transaction back in November 2022.

However, it is believed to be significantly lower than some of the other bids which were on the table in recent months, only to eventually fall by the wayside.

The selling price is also close to the Lm91 million (roughly €191 million) HSBC had spent to buy out the government’s 67.1% stake in Mid Med Bank back in 1999.

HSBC's exit from its European markets is frequently a thrifty affair.

Although the bank never publicly disclosed its final sale price when it closed its small Greek operation in 2023, Greek reports suggest that the banking giant paid local bank Pancreta Bank just under €100 million to take its ailing business off its hands.

Pancreta Bank was eventually merged with another Greek bank, Attica Bank, and renamed CrediaBank.

In any case, CrediaBank is likely to recoup its expenses fairly quickly. Last year, HSBC Malta reported a pre-tax profit of €154.5 million, although profits dipped slightly to €58.7 million during the first six months of 2025.

The deal will need to receive the green light from regulators, namely the MFSA, the Bank of Greece and the European Central Bank before it is finalised. HSBC said this process is likely to last several months and “is expected to be completed by the end of 2026”.

The bank also confirmed that CrediaBank is set to keep all current HSBC Malta employees “on materially the same terms for at least 2 years" after the sale. HSBC's management team is also set to stay put.

The bank will remain listed on the Malta Stock Exchange and continue to pay dividends to its minority shareholders, HSBC said.

The purchase will be entirely funded by the bank’s own resources, the CrediaBank said.

Minority shareholders to be offered €1.44 per share

Financial market rules say that while buying a 70% stake in the bank, CrediaBank must also offer to buy out the remaining 30%. Minority shareholders are then free to decide whether to sell their shares or hold on to them.

HSBC said CrediaBank will be offering minority shareholders a price of €1.44 per share to buy out their stake.

This price was calculated in line with market rules, taking into account trading prices until Monday evening, the bank said.

On Monday, HSBC Malta’s share price closed at €1.32 per share, the lowest it has been since the bank announced its planned exit from Malta last September (except for a €1.31 dip registered a fortnight ago). During that time, the bank’s share price peaked at €1.58 per share in late February.

Last week, CrediaBank shareholder Alexandros Exarchou promised that HSBC’s minority shareholders “will be happy in the end” and make more money in the long run.

In Tuesday’s statement, CrediaBank CEO Eleni Vrettou echoed these words, saying that while minority shareholders “have the option for a fair and equitable price,” they will also “substantially benefit in the future from the further value creation and consistent dividend yield” over the coming years.

Caruana: Satisfied competition will remain, good price offered to minority shareholders

Finance Minister Clyde Caruana when questioned by Times of Malta about the value of the deal, said it was not the government's business to interfere in the sale price negotiated by the two banks. 

He, however, expressed satisfaction that competition would remain in the banking sector and the share price offered to minority shareholders was higher than the present market price, although no one would be obliged to sell their shares.

Furthermore, the fact that the bank would continue to be listed was an indication that the new owners would prefer the minority shareholders to keep their shares.

Caruana said he was aware that further discussions still had to be held with the union representing the workers. He hoped that common ground would be found and there would be an early conclusion to the talks.

Similarly he hoped that the regulatory process would tick all the boxes so that Malta could continue to have stability in the financial sector.