By Reuters - The private-equity arms of Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) and Deutsche Bank AG (DBKGn.DE) were close to sealing a deal to purchase the buyout unit of National Bank of Greece SA (NBGr.AT) (NBG), Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing sources.
Goldman Sachs Asset Management and DB Private Equity were in talks with one of Greece's big four banks to buy NBGI Private Equity Ltd for about 300 million pounds ($506 million), two people with knowledge of the matter told the news agency.
Although no final decision had been taken, the unit's management, lead by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Pavlos Stellakis, were negotiation terms that would allow the buyout business to remain London-based after the deal was inked, the sources told Bloomberg. (bloom.bg/X04dqu)
Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and taxpayer-backed NBG could not immediately be reached by Reuters for a comment outside of regular business hours.
However, a spokesman for NBG told Bloomberg on Tuesday that the bank was in the final stages of making a decision, but none had been taken yet.
NBG is majority owned by Greece's bank rescue fund HFSF, and has been since it was rescued by the state during the country's debt crisis. The bank is selling assets to boost capital before European stress tests.