Bulgarian Postbank was founded on April 2, 1991 as the
postal savings system of
Bulgarian Posts. In the years that followed, the bank experienced substantial growth and expansion. It is one of the few Bulgarian banks that managed to survive the
banking crisis in Bulgaria in 1996–1997. On November 9, 1998, 78.23% of Postbank's
capital was acquired by ALICO/CEH Balkan Holdings Ltd., a
subsidiary of
Eurobank Ergasias. In the following years,
Eurobank Ergasias control grew to more than 90% of Postbank's equity capital. On December 21, 2006, Eurobank EFG acquired majority ownership of the Bulgarian
DZI Bank, which was
merged into Postbank in the third quarter of 2007 with the operational merger completing by the end of the year. On August 29, 2011,
Eurobank Ergasias and
Alpha Bank announced that they have reached agreement on a merger. Alpha Bank has presence in Bulgaria since 1995 with its Sofia Branch having more than 120 offices around the country. The Alpha Bank Branch was expected to merge into Postbank operationally in 2012, but in January 2012, the merger was suspended until
private sector bond writedowns, required of Greek banks as part of the
EU/
International Monetary Fund third rescue package to resolve the
Greek government debt crisis, are finalized. The merger went through on 17 July 2015. Following its merger with DZI Bank in 2007, the bank changed its legal name to "Eurobank Bulgaria AD", but continued
doing business as the Bulgarian Postbank. In March 2016, Postbank acquired the Bulgarian operations of the Greek
Alpha Bank, becoming the fourth-largest bank in Bulgaria in terms of loans and deposits. In July 2018, Eurobank acquired
Piraeus Bank Bulgaria, placing Postbank among the three largest lenders of the country. == Description ==