Troubled National Bank of Greece (NBG) is in serious talks to sell its Macedonian subsidiary Stopanska Banka Skopje (SBS), Macedonia media reported on June 19.

NBG has already sold several of its foreign subsidiaries in countries including Bulgaria and Turkey, to plug the financial gap which resulted from the Greek financial crisis which started in 2010. 

A major international bank based in Belgium is reportedly interested in purchasing a majority stake in Stopanska Banka Skopje. The bank was not named, but Belgian-based KBC Group completed the acquisition of United Bulgarian Bank (UBB) and Bulgarian leasing services provider Interlease from NBG earlier this month. 

Credit Suisse was selected as a consultant in the selling process, which is expected to be completed by the end-year, news provider factor.mk reported, quoting sources familiar with the situation.

NBG owns 94.6% of SBS while the remainder is owned by smaller shareholders.

The minimal purchase price per share was reportedly set at no less than 1.2 times of the book value of Stopanska Banka Skopje’s ordinary shares, which stood at MKD783.23 (€12.7) at the end of 2016.

However, as SBS is expected to end 2017 with a net profit of around €40mn, the book value is expected to be around MKD140-150 more than the current price. 

Stopanska Banka Skopje is one of the four biggest banks in Macedonia according to its assets. SBS reported a net profit of €36.2mn in 2016, up by 17% y/y.

In addition to the sale of NBG’s Bulgarian assets to KBC, the Greek banking group sold its Turkish subsidiary Financebank to Qatar National Bank for a financial consideration of €2.75bn last year. NBG is also understood to be looking for a buyer for Vojvodjanska banka in Serbia.