Expression of interest in acquiring 20% ​​of its National Bank officially presented thousand Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman. The proposal was presented in the context of a visit that took place in Athens and is expected to be opened, reports with information from “K”the procedure for withdrawing state funds from banks, starting with the National Bank.

HFSF is already in the final stages of hiring a consultant to draw up a divestiture strategy for banks, while a formal expression of interest from Mohammed bin Salman suggests that the process of hiring a disposal consultant will also start in parallel, which is reportedly also in progress. According to the same information, the expression of interest is not an offer, as it does not refer to the purchase price or the investment amount, but it signals the Fund’s official approach to an interested investor. It should be noted that “TO” appealed to the HFSF leadership on this issue, but did not receive a response.

It is recalled that the National Bank is the largest asset of HFSF, in which it controls a share of 40.39%, the value of which, based on today’s capitalization, is approximately 1.2 billion euros. In Piraeus Bank, HFSF controls a 27% stake of €353.8 million, in Alpha Bank a 9% stake worth €195.2 million, while in Eurobank it controls a small percentage of just 1.4%. .

The two processes, ie the hiring of a consultant to develop a strategy for the sale of assets, and the hiring of a disposal consultant, will “flow” in parallel with the goal of completion during October. The priority, based on the new HFSF law passed this summer, is to hire a consultant to draw up a disinvestment strategy, and for this, HFSF has extended an invitation to about 15 counseling houses. To date, however, about 5 consulting firms have expressed interest, as most of the large investment firms have been pre-qualified at the share allocation consultant stage.

Once an advisor has been selected, the divestment strategy is expected to be finalized during the fall, but for the Fund to decide to sell shares in any bank, it will need to hire a divestiture advisor who is required by law to have an internationally recognized reputation and relevant transaction experience. The process began with the issuance of an invitation to 5 large investment houses, but it is not yet specified whether the divestiture adviser will be involved in the sale of shares of one bank or several.

At the final stage, the hiring of a consultant to withdraw HFSF investments from banks.

It is noted that the last word belongs to the Ministry of Finance, which, in accordance with the law, provides its opinion to HFSF based on the list of at least 3 candidates for advisers (shortlist) that the Fund presents to it.

The report of the disposal consultant is prepared taking into account the planned sale of a particular lending institution and includes, as a minimum, the recommendation of the disposal consultant to the Fund regarding the following:

(a) An offer for a specific disposal transaction in accordance with the disposal strategy.

(b) Capturing and evaluating market conditions.

(c) A reasoned proposal for the most appropriate transaction structure.

The report shall be accompanied by a reference schedule for the disposal of shares or other financial instruments, which provides sufficient justification for the conditions and method of disposal of the Fund’s shares or other financial instruments, as well as the necessary actions to complete the process and comply with the schedule. The disposal consultant provides advisory support to the Fund even after the submission of its report, as well as at all stages of the transaction.