We are proud to announce that we have advised, as Greek legal counsel, the National Bank of Greece (NBG) in relation to the completion of the divestment of 90.01% of Ethniki Insurance to CVC Capital Partners’ Fund VII (CVC), through the transfer of all of the shares of Ethniki to a newly established subsidiary of CVC (Ethniki Holdings S.à r.l.) and NBG’s purchase of 9.99% of the shares in this new entity.
Our advice included assistance of NBG and Ethniki in relation to the merger control clearance by the European Commission, which included an in-depth analysis of potential vertical concentration effects (foreclosure of rival insurers and/or hospitals) and which led to the unconditional clearance of the transaction on 23 February 2022.

The successful completion of this transaction allows NBG to satisfy its last commitment under the restructuring plan agreed between the Hellenic Republic and the European Commission (DG Competition) following the receipt of state aid by NBG in 2012. Moreover, the transaction is expected to be capital accretive for NBG by approx. 90 bps in the Total Capital Ratio as of 31.12.2021.

Our team was led by our Partner Catherine Karatzas, assisted by our Senior Counsel Nikos Askotiris, our Senior Associate Vassilis Goulielmos and our Associate Aris – Nikolaos Papadopoulos. Our competition law team was led by our Partner Anna Manda, assisted by our Associates Marina- Sofia Chronaki and Gina Goudoulia.