Greece has agreed the sale of a 9% stake in Alpha Bank to UniCredit SpA, according to a statement Monday.
UniCredit “confirms the purchase of 8.9781% of the paid-up share capital of Alpha Services and Holdings S.A.” at a price of €1.39 ($1.49) per share, the lender said in a separate statement.
Greece’s Hellenic Financial Stability Fund, a bank bailout fund that holds the government’s stakes, has said it wants to divest from all of its holdings in the country’s lenders by the end of 2025. It currently owns stakes in National Bank of Greece, Piraeus Bank and Attica Bank besides the holdings in Alpha.
The move comes shortly after Greece’s credit rating was returned to investment grade by several firms including S&P Global Ratings. The upgrades ended more than a decade when the country was below that threshold, which is an important indicator for capital markets.
Read More: Greece Wants to Divest From Its Greek Bank Holdings by End-2025
The latest sale follows the country’s full divestment from Eurobank Ergasias Services and Holdings SA last month, in which Eurobank itself bought the shares.
