Greece likely to sell Piraeus Bank stake in early March, source says (updated)

Piraeus Bank SA

22/02/2024 11:39

(Adds second source, background)
       ATHENS, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Greece's bank bailout fund is
likely to sell its entire 27% stake in Piraeus Bank  BOPr.AT  in
early March, a source close to the process told Reuters on
Thursday.
    It will be the fourth such sale since October by the
Hellenic Financial Stability Fund (HFSF) that was set up to
recapitalise Greek banks during the country's decade-long
financial crisis from 2008-2018.
    "There is strong interest from many foreign investors," a
second source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
    Piraeus, Greece's third-largest lender, has a market value
of 4.9 billion euros ($5.3 billion), which means that
state-controlled HFSF could sell its stake for more than a
billion euros.
    Having injected about 50 billion euros into the sector, HFSF
began reducing its holdings in four major Greek banks last
autumn.
    It sold a 20% stake in National Bank  NBGr.AT  and 9.4% of
Alpha Bank  ACBr.AT  in November and a smaller stake in Eurobank
 EURBr.AT  in October.
($1 = 0.9220 euros)
    

 (Reporting by Renee Maltezou
Additional reporting by Lefteris Papadimas
Editing by David Goodman)
 ((renee.maltezou@thomsonreuters.com; +30 210 3376439; Reuters
Messaging: renee.maltezou.reuters.com@reuters.net))