National Bank stake sale meets strong demand
Demand for a 10% stake sale in the National Bank of Greece (NBG) by the country’s bank bailout fund was oversubscribed by six times on Monday, in the first day of a book-building process which ends later this week, two sources told Reuters.
With the sale, the country will conclude the reprivatization of its banks, 12 years after stepping in to bail them out during a debt crisis that nearly drove the country out of the euro zone.
“There is strong demand from investors,” an official with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
The Hellenic Financial Stability Fund has set the price range for the offering at 7.30-7.95 euros. The book will remain open until October 2.
A second official confirmed the oversubscription. The shares of the bank were trading at €7.93 on Monday, gaining 1%.
The bailout fund (HFSF) holds an 18.4% stake in NBG, the country’s second largest lender by market value. The remainder will be transferred to the country’s sovereign wealth fund at the end of the year.
After injecting about €50 billion into the country’s four largest lenders in return for shares during the crisis, the fund start divesting its holdings in Eurobank, Alpha Bank, Piraeus Bank and part of its stake in NBG late last year.
Greece needed three international bailouts from the European Union and the IMF between 2010 and 2015, totaling more than €260 billion. Since exiting the bailouts in 2018, it has relied solely on the markets for its financing needs.
It returned to investment grade credit rating in 2023. [Reuters]
