ATHENS (Reuters) - Eurobank <EURBr.AT>, Greece's third-largest lender, will acquire real estate company Grivalia Properties <GRIr.AT>, a Eurobank official told Reuters on Sunday.
The deal will be a share-swap transaction and boost the lender's capital base by about 1 billion euros (£884.2 million), the official said without giving the value of the deal.
Grivalia is currently owned by Canadian investment company Fairfax Financial Holdings, which focuses on property and insurance. Fairfax owns a 51.4 percent stake in Grivalia and 17 percent of Eurobank.
A Grivalia representative was not immediately available for comment outside business hours.
Greek banks have been looking to bolster capital ratios as they contend with the challenge of reducing non-performing loans in a sector hit hard by the euro zone's debt crisis and years of recession.
Eurobank last week reported a sharp rise in third-quarter net profit on higher fee revenue and gains from international
operations.
(Reporting by George Georgiopoulos; Writing by Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by David Goodman)
