The issue, completed via private placement, includes a €500m bond maturing on December 17, 2018, carrying an interest rate of 1.9%, a €750m bond with a 2.5 rate maturing on December 16, 2019, and a €750m bond with a 2.75% rate maturing on December 15, 2020, the PDMO said in a statement on its website.

The state-owned bank, which a month ago agreed to sell its operations to Hellenic Bank, also acquired a €580m bond with a 3.25% rate maturing on December 15, 2021 and a one worth €610m maturing a year later with a 3.5% rate, the PDMO said.

A finance ministry source said that the PDMO bought back the bonds issued by the government in April worth €2.4bn which had a maturity of up to 25 years.

Under the terms of the deal, Hellenic agreed to acquire the healthy operations of the Co-op which includes €4.1bn in government bonds, plus €4.6bn in mainly performing loans, €1.6bn in cash, and €9.7bn in deposits.

According to a June 25 statement issued by Hellenic, the bonds, rated non-investment grade and thus not eligible to participate in the European Central Bank’s monetary policy transactions, were to have a weighted 2.6% annual yield which would increase the its Cyprus government bond holding to €4.6bn with a weighted yield of 2.7% per annum. The lender said that it planned to keep €4bn in bonds to maturity.

Source: Cyprus Mail