Ethniki Insurance

US group Varde Partners has been added to the list of suitors for the 80 percent stake in Ethniki Insurance, Greece's biggest insurer.
According to sources, Varde Partners is among the bidders short-listed for the second stage of the tender, concerning binding offers.

Suitors for the 80 percent stake in Ethniki Insurance have until the end of January to submit their binding bids.

National Bank of Greece is launching a new process for the concession of its insurance arm, Ethniki, aiming to have it sold by the end of the year.

National Bank of Greece will not restart the sale of Ethniki Insurance before the second half of this year, as it has been granted a two-year extension to end-2020 for that purpose by the European authorities.

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.

The management of National Bank of Greece told the lender's annual general meeting on Thursday that it will place emphasis on the lender's full transformation through changes to its operational model to meet the challenges of the time and the economy's funding needs.

The Greek benchmark bond yield may have eased to 4.51 percent on Monday, but the continued problems related to Folli Follie that have now also spread to the privatization process of Ethniki Insurance with the withdrawal of Folli Follie stakeholder Fosun pushed local stock prices further south.

Chinese group Fosun has taken itself out of the running for a majority stake in Ethniki Insurance.

The sole bid submitted to owner National Bank of Greece late on Thursday came from another Chinese group, Gongbao, which offered more than 650 million euros for the 75 percent stake in Greece's biggest insurer, according to unconfirmed information.

Investors John Calamos and John Koudounis are seeking $41.7 million from Exin Financial Services Holdings BV - the money they have lent the company in the last couple of years to help finance the acquisition of Ethniki Insurance - according to the lawsuit they filed on February 6, which Kathimerini has seen.

The deal between National Bank of Greece and Exin Financial Services Holdings BV for the latter's acquisition of Ethniki Insurance appears to be hanging in the balance.

The investment vehicle formed by Exin Financial Services Holdings and Calamos Family Partners has ceased to exist.