Alpha Bank stocks rallied at midday, posting double digit-rise, following the mega deal with Unicredit. The Italian bank plans to become Alpha’s biggest investor by buying a 9% stake owned by HFSF. The acquisition would mark the first investment in a Greek bank by another European bank in almost two decades, when the debt crisis erupted. 

At 1511 local time, the general share index was trading 1.8% higher to 1194 points. 

Alpha added 11.6%, while the whole banking sector posted aggregate gains of 4.6%. 

Other notable movers were Aegean +4.6%, Lamda +3%, Mytilineos +2.5%, PPC+2.2%.