John Koudounis

Investors John Calamos and John Koudounis are accusing the head of the Exin group, Matthew Fairfield, of trying to eject them from the group and from efforts to acquire Ethniki Insurance, according to a new lawsuit the pair have filed at a Dutch court.

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 management of National Bank of Greece is considering waiting out the nine-month period of the provisional agreement with Exin Financial Services Holdings BV for the sale of Ethniki Insurance to see whether the deal falls through.

The acquisition of National Bank's insurance business by Calamos and Exin seems poised to collapse after Calamos Family Partners (CFP) announced that it had filed legal action against EXIN Financial Services Holdings, the Dutch holding company of the EXIN Group.

An offer for National Bank's insurance business by Calamos and Exin will be hard to match, partly because of the cultural and commercial links they have with Greece, the investment duo's chief executives said.