Egypt's Central Bank approves Piraeus Bank sale process paper

Egypt's central bank has given preliminary approval for Standard Chartered to start due diligence on the Egyptian unit of Greece's Piraeus Bank for the sake of acquisition

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.