Calamos

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.

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 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.

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.

The board of Greece's National Bank (NBG) approved the sale of a majority stake in the group's wholly owned insurance subsidiary Ethniki to American-Dutch consortium Calamos-Exin, a banker close to the deal told Reuters on Tuesday.

NBG is selling the unit as part of a restructuring plan approved by the European Union to exit non-banking operations and focus on core banking.

The US commerce secretary has backed a bid by an American-Dutch consortium to buy the insurance arm of Greece's National Bank, Ethniki Insurance, saying a deal could help US investment flows to the troubled Mediterranean country.

Secretary Wilbur Ross wrote a letter to Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras that called for a transparent sale, a senior banker told Reuters.

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.