Egypt's central bank has given preliminary approval for due diligence to start on the Egyptian unit of Greece's Piraeus Bank after Standard Chartered showed interest in buying it, a newspaper reported on Monday.
Standard Chartered has said it is considering buying Piraeus Bank's Egyptian subsidiary, a deal that would boost the Greek bank as it seeks to strengthen its balance sheet in light of the downturn facing debt-laden Greece.
"The central bank is in the process of setting a date to start due diligence for the Greek Bank," al-Mal newspaper reported, citing central bank sources.
Central bank officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
Piraeus bank said in a previous statement that a request had been submitted to the Central Bank of Egypt so that due diligence could commence, but that there was no certainty as to whether any agreement would be reached.
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