Athens, Feb 6 (Reuters) - One of Greece's four largest banks, Piraeus Financial, announced on Thursday that it is in exclusive negotiations with CVC Capital Partners to acquire a 70% stake in Ethniki Insurance.
The CEO of Piraeus stated earlier this week that acquiring Greece's second-largest insurer could potentially increase the bank's fee revenues to 30%, up from around 20%.
In a stock exchange filing, the bank confirmed, "We have agreed to enter into exclusive discussions with regards to Piraeus acquiring a 70% interest in Ethniki Insurance for 469 million euros ($485.84 million)."
CVC, with assets totaling 191 billion euros, purchased a 90% stake in Ethniki from National Bank in 2021.
Greek banks are gradually returning to normal operations following three recapitalizations that resulted in their nationalization after Greece's financial crisis in late 2009.
After reducing non-performing loan ratios and achieving profitability, they were granted approval from the European Central Bank last year to resume dividend payouts for the first time in 16 years.
Piraeus, which completed full privatization last year, anticipates a net profit of 1 billion euros by 2024 and intends to distribute 35% of its profits to shareholders.
For the Ethniki transaction, Piraeus has enlisted UBS as a financial adviser and Milliman as an actuarial consultant.
($1 = 0.9653 euros)