National Bank Seeks Extension of Deadline to Sell National Insurance
National Bank has requested from DG Comp a two-year extension of a deadline to sell its subsidiary National Insurance, expecting either to have found a strategic investor or to list the company’s shares in the stock market by then, bank sources said on Friday. The sources said that decisions were expected before the end of 2020 and noted that the bank’s goal was to avoid a forced and hasty selling of the company. The selling procedure is expected by the end of 2019, although a possible public offer of National Insurance’s shares was not excluded. In any case, National Bank will sell 75 pct of its stake in National Insurance and the bank is examining all possible options. The sources said that National Bank was expected to reach an agreement soon for the selling of its subsidiary in Cyprus and to seek buyers for its subsidiaries in Egypt, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) and Romania. Referring its National Bank’s subsidiary in FYROM (Stopanska Banka), the bank is mulling the exchange of this selling with another asset.