Decision day for Ethniki Insurance

The board of National Bank of Greece is on Thursday expected to decide whether it will accept Chinese company Gongbao’s offer for the acquisition of Ethniki Insurance.

Gongbao was the only bidder in the final stage of binding financial offers for the buyout of 75 percent of Greece’s leading insurer, with a bid of 676 million euros.

Ethniki’s entire share capital is valued at 813 million euros, so the offer on the table is above that.

However, the NBG board must also base its decision on the overall activity of the Chinese group, for which Ethniki would constitute the first investment outside China – a point that has caused concern among NBG’s board members.