Exin has agreed to acquire a 75 percent stake in Greek state-owned insurer Ethniki for EUR718mn, the company announced.

The agreed price tag implies an enterprise value of EUR958mn for the business.

Matt Fairfield’s start-up Exin, which is backed by US asset manager Calamos Investments on the deal, said it will pay EUR718mn for its stake, while National Bank of Greece (NBG) will retain the remaining 25 percent of Ethniki as part of a new 10-year partnership covering life, savings and non-life insurance products.

Exin and Calamos have reportedly been in exclusive talks to acquire Ethniki since early June, but discussions on the final sale and purchase agreement have taken longer than expected.

It was reported that fellow frontrunners for the Greek insurer included Chinese bidders Fosun, Gongbao and Wintime.

Exin said it shares a common ambition with NBG to develop Ethniki Insurance and substantially upgrade its core systems and processes to better serve customers.

The firm added that it will contribute distribution, technical, underwriting and digital expertise to the partnership, including its proprietary application and algorithm-based predictive behaviour technology.

"The deal reinforces our commitment to the southern European financial services market as part of our strategy. Exin has the expertise to lead a renaissance for the industry across the region," remarked John Koudounis, Calamos Investments CEO and an Exin co-founder along with Fairfield and John Calamos.

UBS advised Exin on the transaction. NBG was advised by Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs on the divestment.

The deal follows Exin’s acquisition of a 50 percent stake in AIG Greece in December 2016. Once the Ethniki deal has been completed, Exin’s portfolio companies will generate approximately EUR1bn in annual premiums from the Greek insurance market.