With approval Ministry of Finance his selling strategy thousand from banks, the Fund immediately starts the process of confirming the investment interest expressed in relation to the National Bank and Piraeus Bank. The investigation will be conducted through a letter that the fund will send to the Italian private equity fund ION Group, which has acquired a 27% stake in Piraeus Bank by presenting a specific offer.

The Fund also suspended consideration of the National Bank case and the interest expressed by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) as to whether this interest would take practical form by presenting a specific financial special offer. As “K” wrote, the period of exclusive trading that the mutual fund had expired since the end of November, and HFSF sent a letter to extend this period, to which the mutual fund has not yet responded. Thus, his interest in the National Bank has yet to be confirmed for HFSF to decide on the next steps.

Based on this, the Fund “launches” the process of hiring a consultant for the sale of the assets of Piraeus Bank, and Goldman Sachs has been appointed as a consultant for the liquidation of the assets of the National Bank.

Recall that for the National Bank, the Saudi Arabia State Fund expressed interest in 20% of the bank out of 40.4% controlled by HFSF, but did not submit any financial proposal and did not conduct due diligence.

In contrast, for Piraeus Bank, ION Group submitted a financial offer of EUR 452.4 million (EUR 1.34 per share) for all shares held by HFSF in the bank, i.e. for 27% of its share capital. As a reminder, the offer was made public on October 18, when the Piraeus share was close to 1.2 euros and therefore included a premium, while today the share is at 1.410 euros.

The Saudi PIF expressed interest in 20% of the National Bank, and the Italian ION Group – in 27% of Piraeus Bank.

Elections

However, government sources insist that the upcoming elections will not influence decisions on the government’s withdrawal from the banks. While it is clear, as they note, “there will be no sale in the midst of the election,” the process, they note, “will not freeze” with the election. follows the schedule or does not prioritize divestment movements based on the specific policy of each bank, gives the government the flexibility to act at its own discretion and in accordance with the established priorities, which will decide.For now, of course, it is important to clarify the interest on the one hand for the National Bank, and on the other hand for Piraeus Bank to determine the next steps.

On this basis, it is likely that the government’s divestment strategy will start with its third largest holding, i.e. Alfa Bank, in which HFSF controls 9%, and Reggeborgh Invest (which already has about 6 .5% in the bank). Withdrawing investments from Eurobank seems less difficult, where the HFSF rate is only 1.4% and can be accessed through AXA.

In any case, the procedure to be followed will take into account competing bids. This means that if the PIF confirms its interest and returns with a specific financial proposal, other investors will be invited to submit an offer. The same will be done in the case of Piraeus Bank, for which the process will be open to other interested parties also with the aim of achieving a better price than that offered by ION Group. This logic prevails if the option of a private sale is promoted, that is, a sale through negotiations with an interested investor, but, as competent sources explain, even this option has difficulties. Thus, the answer has not yet been given what will happen if someone offers a lower or higher price, for example, for 40% of the National Bank or if someone offers a high price for 5% of the bank.

Alternative

It should be noted that as an alternative to the private sale process, Rothschild describes the possibility of withdrawing investments through a public sale (fully market offer) through a book of offers (options – accelerated book formation or withdrawal, etc.). In this case, the state can start selling blocks of shares without negotiations, but with the terms of the purchase, depending on which method it chooses.