Chinese groups renew interest in Greek insurer

Two Chinese groups have renewed their interest in buying a majority stake in National Insurance, Greece’s largest insurer, after a EUR718 million sale agreed with Calamos-Exin, a US-Dutch partnership, collapsed last month.

Fosun Investment and Gonbao Investment, the second- and third-ranked bidders, “have returned to the reopened sale process” according to a report in the Financial Times.

National Bank of Greece, the country’s second-largest lender, offered its wholly-owned insurance subsidiary for sale as part of a restructuring plan agreed with Greece’s bailout creditors, the EU and the International Monetary Fund. The bank undertook to dispose of non-core assets and focus on domestic banking in line with benchmarks set by creditors.

Chicago-based Calamos Investments, with more than USD20 billion under management, teamed up with Exin Partners of the Netherlands, an investment group that specialises in insurance and asset management to bid for National. The deal fell through after a legal dispute erupted between the two partners. NBG has offered a 75 percent stake in the insurer and would retain the remaining 25 per cent while continuing to distribute bancassurance products through its branch network.