Alpha Bank A E : Greek bank rescue fund reduces stake in Alpha Bank to 9%

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's bank rescue fund HFSF said on Thursday it took part in Alpha Bank's 800 million euro ($948 million) share offering partially, reducing its holding to 9% from 11% previously but remaining the bank's largest shareholder.

"The fund remains Alpha Bank's largest shareholder, proving its trust in the bank's management and its future," The Hellenic Financial Stability Fund said in a statement.

The HFSF fund, which holds stakes in Greece's four big banks - Piraeus, National, Eurobank and Alpha - after taking part in three recapitalisations, was advised by UBS Europe and Societe Generale on its participation in Alpha Bank's equity offering.

Alpha Bank's share placement with institutional investors was oversubscribed about two times and was priced at 1.0 euro per share.

The public offering in Greece and the international placement with institutional investors via bookbuilding ran in parallel and were completed on Wednesday.

Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan acted as joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners, with Citigroup the senior joint bookrunner and Barclays BARC.L and Axia Ventures joint bookrunners.

(Reporting by George Georgiopoulos; editing by Jason Neely)