Demand for the sale of a 10% stake in the National Bank of Greece from the country’s bank rescue fund was oversubscribed by six times.
HFSF reduces stake in National Bank
The Hellenic Financial Stability Fund (HFSF) announced its decision to reduce its stake in the National Bank.
The process involves selling 10% of the shares held by the HFSF. This lowers its total shareholding in the bank from 18.3% to approximately 8.3%.
The fund will allocate the 10% stake to two categories of investors: it will reserve 15-20% for the retail market and offer the remainder to institutional and long-term investors. The final allocation will depend on the demand collected from the bid book.
It is worth noting that the HFSF’s previous share sale of National bank stake in November 2023 was a major success. Its demand exceeded the available shares by eight times.
Greece to complete bank reprivatization
With the sale, Greece will complete the reprivatization of its banks, 12 years after stepping in to save them during a debt crisis that nearly pushed the country out of the eurozone.
“There is a lot of demand from investors,” an official with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
The HFSF has set the price range for the offer at 7.3 to 7.95 euros per Offer Share.
Meanwhile a second official confirmed the oversubscription. The bank’s shares traded at 7.93 euros on Monday, recording a 1% gain.
National Bank’s steady growth and strategic investments
The HFSF holds an 18.4% stake in National Bank, Greece’s second-largest lender by market value. They will transfer the remainder to Greece’s sovereign wealth fund by the end of the year.
The fund injected 50 billion euros (about $54.37 billion) into Greece’s four largest lenders. This happened in exchange for shares during the crisis. It began divesting its holdings in Eurobank, Alpha Bank and Piraeus Bank. It also divested a part of its stake in the national bank at the end of last year.
Additionally, Athens had three international bailouts from the European Union and the IMF between 2010 and 2015, totaling more than 260 billion euros. Since exiting the bailout in 2018, it has relied solely on the markets for its financing needs.
National Bank has seen a steady rise over the past year, with profits showing impressive growth. For the first half of 2024, net profit after tax reached 670 million euros, while organic profit increased by 27% compared to the same period last year.
At the same time the bank continues to focus on strategic investments in digital transformation and infrastructure improvements.
