IRF.L Regulatory News (IRF)

29 Sep 2006 18:29

IRF European Fin Investments Ltd 29 September 2006 IRF EUROPEAN FINANCE INVESTMENTS LTD ("IRF") Completion of the merger of Proton Bank S.A. ("Proton Bank"), Omega Bank S.A. ("Omega Bank") and Proton Securities S.A. ("Proton Securities") and appointment ofLoucas Valetopoulos as Chief Executive Officer and Director of IRF Merger completion: IRF (AIM: IRF) is pleased to announce that today, the Ministry of Development ofGreece cleared the merger of Proton Bank with Omega Bank and Proton Securities,which was approved by shareholders of the three companies on September 7, 2007. The combined entity will become fully operational on Monday, October 2 under thename Proton Bank S.A. Appointment of new Chief Executive Officer and Director: IRF is also pleased to announce the appointment of Loucas Valetopoulos as IRF'sChief Executive Officer and as a member of its board of directors, effectiveSeptember 29, 2006. Mr. Valetopoulos succeeds Georgios (George) Kintis, whoresigned from his position as Chief Executive Officer and Director of IRF,effective today. Mr. Valetopoulos brings significant corporate management andbanking experience to IRF. Mr. Valetopoulos will also replace Mr. Kintis as a Director of the combinedProton and Omega companies. Prior to being named IRF's Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Valetopoulos, aged 46,worked for over 21 years in corporate, investment banking and senior managerialpositions, first with Citibank in Greece in 1985 and then for BNP Paribas andABN-AMRO. During this time, he also set up the Greek Government InvestmentPromotion Agency, an office responsible for the promotion and support of foreigndirect investment into Greece. As Vice Chairman of a publicly listed company,Electra S.A., that was later acquired by Piraeus Bank, he oversaw a €55 millionshare capital raise on the Athens Stock Exchange. Since 2003, he has beenManaging Director of a family-owned real estate consultancy, Valeur S.A., ofwhich he remains Chairman. With these announcements, IRF believes it is in position to build and manageIRF's business and to direct its investment policy. Angeliki Frangou, Chairmanof IRF, stated that "George helped lay the foundation that enabled us to developIRF in its early stages. We wish him well and now look to Loucas to lead us inthe next phase of our development." At the date of this announcement, Mr. Valetopoulos (a) does not own any sharesof IRF, (b) has no unspent convictions in relation to indictable offences, (c)has not been declared bankrupt or entered into an individual voluntaryarrangement, (d) has not been a director of any company at the time of, orwithin the 12 months preceding, any receivership, compulsory liquidation,creditors' voluntary liquidation, administration, company voluntary arrangementor any composition or arrangement with its creditors generally or any class ofits creditors with which such company was concerned, (e) has not been a partnerin a partnership at the time of, or within 12 months preceding, a compulsoryliquidation, administration or partnership voluntary arrangement of suchpartnership, (f) has not had his assets the subject of any receivership or beena partner in a partnership at the time of, or within the 12 months preceding,any assets thereof being the subject of a receivership, and (g) has not been thesubject of any public criticisms by any statutory or regulatory authority(including any recognised professional body) nor has he ever been disqualifiedby a court from acting as a director of a company or from acting in themanagement or conduct of the affairs of any company. Save as disclosed in thisannouncement, Mr. Valetopoulos has confirmed that there are no furtherdisclosures required pursuant to Schedule Two paragraph (g) of the AIM Rules. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange