Greek Insurance Conglomerate Ethniki Sold to Private Fund

The leading Greek insurance company Ethniki Insurance, was sold on Friday to CVC Capital Partners Fund VII, a private equity and investment advisory firm.

With a history of 130 years, Ethniki which belonged to National Bank of Greece (NBG), provides insurance services to more than 1,000,000 private individuals and companies.

With 13 management branches, 1,648 insurance consultants in 132 sales offices across Greece and 1,299 partner agencies and brokers, the insurance company has grown rapidly over the last years.

Through its subsidiaries Garanta and Ethniki Asfalistiki Cyprus it has a significant and dynamic presence in Romania and Cyprus respectively. Its growth has attracted the interest of several foreign funds recently.

90% of Ethniki Insurance bought by CVC

In a statement, CVC Capital announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire 90.01% of Ethniki Insurance from NBG.

The equivalent nominal consideration corresponding to 100% of Ethniki would be €505m, including an “earn-out” payment of up to €120m, which will be subject to meeting agreed upon performance targets for the bancassurance channel of NBG by 2026. The transaction includes a 15-year Bancassurance partnership.

The closing is subject to standard conditions precedent, the approval by the antitrust and regulatory authorities and the approval of an Extraordinary General Meeting of NBG shareholders.

CVC is a leading private equity and investment advisory firm with a network of 23 offices throughout Europe, Asia and the US.

CVC Funds are also one of the most active investors in Greece with a dedicated team in Athens which has invested more than €750m of equity since 2017, including in Hellenic Healthcare Group, e-Travel, Skroutz, D-Marin and Vivartia.

CVC becomes one of the largest investors in Greece

With the new acquisition of Ethniki, CVC will become one of the largest investors in Greece.

Since its founding in 1981, CVC has secured commitments in excess of US$160 billion from some of the world’s leading institutional investors across its private equity and credit strategies.

CVC currently manages approximately US$118 billion of assets. Funds managed or advised by CVC (“CVC Funds”) are invested in over 90 companies worldwide, employing more than 450,000 people.

CVC has a dedicated Financial Services team and CVC Funds have extensive experience of investing in insurance through investments in Brit (UK), Fidelis (US), Domestic & General (UK), Pension Insurance Corporation (UK), April Group (France), Riverstone (UK) and others. CVC Funds have been approved by more than 15 financial regulators including BaFin (Germany), PRA (UK), FCA (UK), BMA (Bermuda), and FINMA (Switzerland).