Greece starts process to sell 20% stake in National Bank (updated)

National Bank of Greece

13/11/2023 10:15

(Adds quote from official, valuation, background)
       ATHENS, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Greece on Monday announced
plans to sell a 20% stake in National Bank of Greece (NBG) after
concluding the sale of a 9% stake in Alpha Bank to UniCredit as
it looks to divest from the country's lenders.
    The shares in NBG  NBGR.AT , Greece's second largest bank by
market value, will be sold via a public offering and a private
placement from Nov. 14 to 16 at between 5 and 5.44 euros per
share, the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund (HFSF) said in a
statement.
    The HFSF, a state-controlled bank bailout fund, acquired
stakes in Greece's biggest lenders in return for injecting about
50 billion euros to recapitalise them during the country's
financial crisis. It currently holds a 40.4% stake in NBG and a
27% stake in Piraeus Bank  BOPr.AT , Greece's third largest
lender.
    NBG's shares were down about 1% at 5.39 euros at 1012 GMT on
Monday, with the 20% stake valued at about one billion euros
($1.07 billion).
    "Out of the 20% holding, 17% will be offered to funds and 3%
to retail investors. If there is strong demand, then HFSF might
increase the stake to be offered to 22%," an official involved
in the process told Reuters.
    Earlier on Monday, HFSF said it sold its 9% stake in Alpha
Bank  ACBr.AT  to UniCredit for 293.5 million euros after an
improved bid from the Italian bank.
    Greece has been attracting significant investment as its
economy strengthens after the crisis, prompting S&P Global to
upgrade the country to investment grade in October.
    ($1 = 0.9349 euros)

 (Reporting by Lefteris Papadimas and Angeliki Koutantou;
editing by Jason Neely)
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