Eurobank addendum: Merger with Grivalia

The very next day after the publication of my recent piece on Eurobank, the company announced a merger with Greek real estate investment company Grivalia. The merger will be destructive to Eurobank's per share value long term (by about 30% in my assessment), but the deal does have some benefits, including reducing downside tail risks (regulators forcing another recapitalisation). This arguably makes a larger position now more feasible, as the level of upside is still material. The stock has so far rallied about 10% to €0.50.

Stories, Greek myths, and Eurobank

Human beings love to tell stories. It is thought by anthropologists that throughout much of human evolutionary history, large amounts of time were spent sitting around the camp fire in the evenings relaying stories to one another (there wasn't much else to do). To this day, social gatherings amongst human beings are replete with stories, which are not just pleasant to relate, but are also a form of status competition, as humans compete to one-up each other with better and more interesting stories.