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☆ Greece's National Bank stake sale oversubscribed -source
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The logo of National Bank is seen outside a branch in Athens March 23, 2015. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsATHENS, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Greece on Thursday sold a 22% stake in National Bank (NBG), its second-biggest lender by market value, with the sale oversubscribed by more than eight times, a source close to the process told Reuters. On Monday, HFSF concluded the sale of a 9% stake in Alpha Bank to UniCredit and announced plans to sell a 20% stake in NBG. A book-building process and a public offering for the sale of the NBG stake which started on Nov. 14 concluded on Thursday, with the final offer price set at 5.30 euros a share, the source said. HFSF, which owns 40% in NBG, sold a total of 201,237,334 shares, raising more than 1 billion euros, according to Reuters calculations.

Persons: Alkis, HFSF, Lefteris Papadimas, Toby Chopra Organizations: National Bank, REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, P Global, Alpha Bank, Fidelity, Norges, Lazard, RWC, Allianz, Thomson Locations: Athens, Greece, UniCredit, NBG, Blackrock

☆ Greece's National Bank attracts strong demand in 20% stake sale - source
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Lefteris Papadimas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"Demand covered 6.2 times the shares offered," the source involved in the process said on condition of anonymity. On Monday, HFSF concluded the sale of a 9% stake in Alpha Bank to UniCredit and announced plans to sell a 20% stake in NBG. The value of the 20% stake is estimated at about 1 billion euros ($1.09 billion). HFSF currently holds a 40.4% stake in NBG and a 27% holding in Piraeus Bank, (BOPr.AT), Greece's third-largest lender. A source told Reuters on Monday that out of the 20% stake in NBG, 17% would be offered to funds and 3% to retail investors.

Persons: Alkis, HFSF, Greece's, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Lefteris Papadimas, Louise Heavens, Sharon Singleton Organizations: National Bank, REUTERS, Rights, Greece's National Bank, Reuters, P Global, Alpha Bank, Piraeus Bank, UBS, Thomson Locations: Athens, Greece, UniCredit, NBG

☆ UniCredit CEO Orcel's 'bank of Europe' ambition tough to realise
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( Valentina Za | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

However, his aspirations to make UniCredit the "bank of Europe" are proving trickier to realise with the CEO setting a high bar for mergers and acquisitions in the euro zone's fractured capital markets, despite having what he describes as the biggest war chest among European lenders. UniCredit bought Greece's 9% stake in Alpha Bank (ACBr.AT) and struck a commercial partnership with the Athens-based lender, also acquiring most of its Romanian operations. The CEO works closely with a small M&A team he set up within UniCredit which constantly reviews potential deals in the markets and businesses where the bank operates, people with knowledge of the matter said. But uneven regulation across the euro zone, where progress towards a single banking market has stalled, complicates cross-border deals. Calling on Europe to follow his lead, Orcel says he has unlocked UniCredit's potential by giving it a unified strategy across its 13 markets.

Persons: Andrea Orcel, Merrill Lynch, Orcel, He's, Cole Smead, ALPHA Orcel, Siena, UniCredit, Smead, Jean, Pierre Mustier's, Mustier, it's, Carlo Franchini, Danilo Masoni, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: Discount, MILAN, UBS, Smead Capital Management, Fund, ALPHA, Banco, Alpha Bank, Alpha, Banca Ifigest, Thomson Locations: buybacks, Europe, Arizona, Ukraine, Athens, HVB, Berlin, Milan

☆ Greek state bank bailout fund sells 9% of Alpha bank to Unicredit
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ATHENS, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Greece's state-controlled bank bailout fund HFSF said on Monday it sold its 9% stake in Alpha Bank (ACBr.AT) to UniCredit after an improved bid by the Italian bank. UniCredit (CRDI.MI) announced last month it would become Alpha Bank's biggest investor by buying a 9% stake owned by Greece's HFSF and also agreed to acquire most of Alpha's Romanian business. Greece has been attracting significant investment as its economy strengthened after the crisis, prompting S&P Global to upgrade the country to investment grade in October. HFSF sold last month its 1.4% stake in Eurobank and is expected to proceed with the sale of about 20% of National Bank in next coming days. Reporting by Lefteris Papadimas; Editing by Tom Hogue and Stephen CoatesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: HFSF, Greece's HFSF, UniCredit, Lefteris Papadimas, Tom Hogue, Stephen Coates Organizations: Alpha Bank, Alpha, Athens Stock Exchange, Global, National Bank, Thomson Locations: ATHENS, Italian, Romanian, Greece, Eurobank

☆ UniCredit’s Greek stake is less odd than it seems
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

But Italy’s UniCredit (CRDI.MI), which on Monday purchased 9% of Alpha Bank for about 300 million euros, should have better luck. This will include merging the lenders’ Romanian units and Alpha distributing UniCredit’s asset-management products in Greece. Probably the most reassuring news for investors in the Italian bank is that Orcel has no plans to raise its stake. UniCredit hasn’t requested regulatory permission to buy more and doesn’t envisage doing so, according to a person familiar with the matter. For shareholders, then, UniCredit’s mini-Greek adventure is unusual but easily tolerable.

Persons: Italy’s, Andrea Orcel, Crédit, Société, Orcel, UniCredit, UniCredit hasn’t, Liam Proud, Aimee Donnellan, Oliver Taslic Organizations: Reuters, Alpha Bank, Alpha, Piraeus Financial, X, SEC, Thomson Locations: Greece

☆ Greece starts process to sell 20% stake in National Bank
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

People walk outside the National Bank of Greece headquarters in Athens, Greece, January 17, 2022. REUTERS/Louiza Vradi/File photo Acquire Licensing RightsATHENS, 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. 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). 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.

Persons: Louiza, HFSF, Lefteris Papadimas, Jason Neely Organizations: National Bank of, REUTERS, Rights, Monday, National Bank of Greece, Alpha Bank, Hellenic, Stability, Piraeus Bank, Reuters, Global, Thomson Locations: National Bank of Greece, Athens, Greece, UniCredit, NBG

☆ Alpha Bank to sell bad loan portfolio to Fortress and Davidson Kempner
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

ATHENS, May 5 (Reuters) - Alpha Bank ACBr.AT, one of Greece's four largest lenders, said on Friday it signed a binding agreement to sell a 650 million euro ($717.34 million) portfolio of corporate bad loans to Fortress and Davidson Kempner. The transaction, named project Hermes, is expected to reduce Alpha Bank's non-performing exposures (NPE) ratio by 10 basis points, it said. The deal is expected to be completed within May. ($1 = 0.9061 euros)Reporting by Lefteris PapadimasOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Greek banks overlooked but on bumpy road to re-rating -Eurobank Equities
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ATHENS, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Rising interest rates will provide a significant tailwind to Greek bank earnings this year and the next, Eurobank Equities said on Thursday, rating Alpha Bank (ACBr.AT), National Bank (NBGr.AT) and Piraeus (BOPr.AT) a "buy". In a research report, it said Greek bank shares were "out of sync with fundamentals", up just 3% so far this year and trading at a steep 25% discount to peers in Europe's periphery. Greek banks will benefit from a new credit cycle following a decade of de-leveraging while rate hikes will boost their net interest income, Eurobank Equities said. Greece's economy is also proving resilient thanks to tourism while banks' asset quality has improved in the last three years. "Besides their higher sensitivity to rate hikes versus EU peers, Greek banks have additional levers to pull, including continuous cost–cutting and accelerated fee generation," the report said.

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