Greece’s National Bank close to selling real estate arm to Invel
National Bank of Greece is close to clinching a deal to sell a majority stake in its fully owned real estate arm Pangaia to private equity firm Invel Real Estate, two bankers close to the deal have told Reuters.
The sale is part of restructuring efforts by National Bank (NBG) aimed at boosting its capital base.
“The agreement will close in the next 10 days. Invel will acquire about 66 percent of Pangaia for more than 600 million euros,” one of the bankers told Reuters.
Invel will pay part of the purchase price for Pangaia in cash, contribute equity in the form of real estate and finance the rest with a loan from National Bank, the bankers said.
BSG Real Estate, controlled by Israeli businessman Beny Steinmetz, will be one of the co-investors in the transaction, they said.
“NBG will retain management control at Pangaia for five years,” the other banker said.
“The loan by NBG for part of the majority stake will be at a spread of 275 basis points, secured by real estate contributed by Invel.”
The bankers said the sale would strengthen National Bank’s Core Tier 1 capital adequacy ratio by 40 basis points to 9.6 percent.
[Reuters]
