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P&P Advises Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley on NBG Offering

Greece
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Papapolitis & Papapolitis announced that it advised Goldman Sachs International and Morgan Stanley & Co. International as joint global coordinators and joint book runners in connection with an offering by National Bank of Greece of 1,136,363,637 new ordinary shares at a price of EUR 2.20 per share designed to boost its core capital.

The total gross proceeds from the offering amounted to EUR 2.5 billion. Citigroup Global Markets Limited, HSBC Bank, Mediobanca – Banca di Credito Finanziario, Merrill Lynch International, and UBS Limited acted as joint bookrunners. The new ordinary shares are listed on the Athens Stock Exchange. 

Greece's largest bank by assets got the go-ahead from bank bailout fund and 84 percent shareholder HFSF to raise funds to plug a EUR 2.18 billion capital hole, a central bank stress test revealed in March. The bank, with subsidiaries in the Balkans and Turkey, had previously resolved not to resort to the financial markets to fill the gap but focus on selling non-core assets instead. This changed after pressure by the central bank to follow the example of its peers Alpha Bank and Piraeus, which have already raised EUR 2.95 billion between them from markets. Eurobank, the country's third-largest lender, is also tapping markets for EUR 2.86 billion, and has already secured commitments to the offer by a Canadian-led investor group for EUR 1.3 billion.

NBG's equity offering will not include pre-emption rights for existing shareholders, including the HFSF, as was the case with share offerings by its peers. NBG's board said the funds will also help it pay back EUR 1.35 billion worth of preferred shares held by the Greek state.

Papapolitis & Papapolitis lawyers working on the deal included Nikolaos Katsaros, Katerina Dalamara, Martha Fotinopoulou, and Nicholas Papapolitis.

 

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