Finance

UniCredit Raises Alpha Bank Stake as Orcel Resumes Buying Spree

A customer uses an ATM outside an Alpha Bank branch in Athens.

Photographer: Nick Paleologos/Bloomberg

UniCredit SpA increased its holding in Alpha Bank SA as Chief Executive Officer Andrea Orcel resumes his European buying spree despite a recent setback at home.

Italy’s second-largest bank said late Thursday that it has entered into financial instruments linked to a holding of approximately 5% in Alpha Bank. The move will take its total stake to around 26%, UniCredit said in a statement. That’s worth about €2.1 billion ($2.4 billion), based on Thursday’s closing prices.