National Bank of Greece

National Bank of Greece shareholders on Friday approved the sale of a majority stake of its insurance subsidiary to Anglo-Dutch consortium Calamos-EXIN.

EXIN is buying 75 percent of the division for 718.3 million euros.

The sale is part of National Bank's strategy to focus on core banking activities under a restructuring plan approved by the European Commission.

The National Bank of Greece general meeting scheduled for Friday is expected to approve the transfer of 75 percent of NBG's insurance arm, Ethniki, to Dutch-based Exin Financial Services Holding BV. The deal will not include ownership of the Ethniki brand name, which will only be rented to the investor.

Fitch credit ratings agency has upgraded the Greek banks in light of the recent deal at the EuroGroup and the completion of the second review. Fitch has affirmed the Long-Term Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) of National Bank of Greece S.A. (NBG), Alpha Bank AE (Alpha), Piraeus Bank S.A. (Piraeus) and Eurobank Ergasias S.A. (Eurobank) at ‘Restricted Default’ (RD).

KBC completed the acquisition of United Bulgarian Bank and Interlease from the National Bank of Greece for a total consideration of 610 million euros, representing a 1.10x multiple of the 2016 Tangible Book Value of UBB and Interlease. The acquisition - which was announced on 30 December 2016 - was approved by the relevant regulatory authorities and received anti-trust approval.

Uncertainty over the Greek bailout review took its toll on Piraeus Bank and National Bank of Greece (NBG) in the first quarter as the country's two biggest lenders focused their efforts on cutting bad debts.

Four investors submitted binding bids to acquire a majority stake in Greek lender National Bank's (NBG) insurance unit, a banking source close to the deal told Reuters on Tuesday.

Greece's second largest lender by assets is looking to sell its National Insurance subsidiary as part of a restructuring plan it has agreed with regulators to exit from non-banking operations.

Greece's second-largest lender National Bank (NBG) agreed to sell its entire 99.8 percent stake in its South Africa Bank of Athens (SABA) subsidiary to AFGRI Holdings as part of an EU-approved restructuring plan, the bank said on Tuesday.

National Bank of Greece has completed 80 percent of its restructuring plan, with five actions left to complete before the end of 2018.

The most important of these is the sale of its insurance subsidiary.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) on Monday announced it has successfully completed its first transaction in the agribusiness sector in Greece by providing 10 million euros in long-term financing to Loulis Mills, a leading company in the Greek flour milling industry.

National Bank of Greece expects to sell its subsidiary Ethniki Insurance this year and plans other sales as part of its restructuring, its chief executive said on Wednesday.

Last month Greece's second largest lender hired Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley as advisers on the sale of the insurance unit, banking sources close to the deal said.