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Alpha Bank’s Bold Cyprus Expansion: €205 Million AstroBank Acquisition Sparks Growth

Alpha Bank is set to acquire AstroBank for a total of €205 million, significantly boosting its foothold in the Cyprus market.

This transaction will be carried out through Alpha Bank Cyprus Ltd, enhancing the Alpha Bank Group’s profitability prospects. It’s estimated that the acquisition will add over €100 million annually to recurring net profits. Furthermore, Alpha Bank anticipates a 5% boost in Earnings Per Share (EPS), a 60-basis-point rise in Return on Tangible Equity (RoTE), and a stellar 40% return on regulatory capital, making it a pivotal moment in its growth strategy.

Market Impact and Future Prospects

On completion, expected in Q4 2025 pending regulatory approvals, Alpha Bank Cyprus will command around 10% of the market share.

Cyprus’ promising economic landscape, with a real GDP growth projected to outpace the wider euro area, positions it as an attractive market for expansion. This acquisition underscores Alpha Bank’s dedication to cementing its presence in Cyprus.

Curious about Cyprus’ innovation landscape? Discover how Cyprus Seeds is driving regional innovation.

Mirendil Signs $100 Million Google Cloud Deal To Advance Self-Improving AI

AI startup Mirendil has signed a multi-year agreement worth more than $100 million with Google Cloud to secure computing infrastructure for its self-improving AI research.

The partnership reflects growing competition among AI companies to lock in access to high-performance computing, while cloud providers race to attract promising startups developing next-generation AI models.

Backing The Next Stage Of AI Research

Mirendil plans to use Google’s Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), Nvidia GPUs and managed training infrastructure to develop AI systems capable of improving their own performance over time.

Known as recursive self-improvement, the concept focuses on building AI that can refine its knowledge and capabilities with minimal human intervention. The technology is attracting growing interest across the industry, with several startups and leading AI labs exploring similar approaches.

According to co-founder and Chief Executive Behnam Neyshabur, the long-term goal is to develop AI that can automate scientific research and accelerate discoveries in fields such as medicine, biology and materials science.

Compute Capacity Becomes A Strategic Asset

Training increasingly advanced AI models requires enormous computing resources, making long-term infrastructure agreements a critical competitive advantage.

Mirendil said Google’s combination of TPUs and GPUs allows workloads to be matched with the most suitable hardware, improving efficiency while reducing costs for customers.

For Google Cloud, the agreement strengthens its position in the race to provide infrastructure for frontier AI developers, while giving the company exposure to one of the industry’s emerging approaches to next-generation artificial intelligence.

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