Greece to seek advisors for possible bank sale: finance minister

Employees of the Hellenic Postbank stand outside a branch during a strike in Athens July 16, 2010.

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's finance minister said on Saturday he would appoint consultants to advise him on the possible sale of state-run lenders ATEbank (AGBr.AT) and Hellenic Postbank (GPSr.AT) to private Piraeus Bank (BOPr.AT).

"No decision can be taken without a valuation and appreciation by special advisors," finance minister George Papaconstantinou said in an interview in the Sunday edition of Ethnos newspaper.

Piraeus, Greece's No.4 lender, this week offered 701 million euros ($909.6 million) to buy the government's controlling stakes in two smaller rivals ATEbank and Hellenic Postbank.

Piraeus said it made the offer in response to government calls for consolidation in Greece's banking market, which has come to rely on ECB funding to refinance operations.

"We have encouraged strategic moves in the banking sector," Papaconstantinou said. "But let's make clear that Piraeus's offer to the government was its own initiative. It did not follow any invitation on our part."

The government will make its decision in the public interest, with a view to maintain a role in the banking system, Papaconstantinou added.

Analysts said Piraeus's surprise offer signaled the beginning of mergers and acquisition in the banking sector, battered by recession at home and a debt crisis which hurt their government bond holdings and access to wholesale funding.

(Reporting by Harry Papachristou; Editing by Toby Chopra)