Greek government has invited three companies to submit binding bids by September for a 51% stake of the country’s largest port Piraeus, according to Chinese media on 15 May.
The three potential buyers that are interested in buying the Piraeus port majority stake are COSCO in China, Denmark’s APM Terminals, and International Container Terminal Services (ICTSI) based in Philippines respectively.
The sale will be for 51% of the port stake with an option to reach 67% in five years if the bidder invests EUR300 million (USD341 million), an official told Reuters.
Related news:Piraeus privatisation back on as COSCO China bids
COSCO and four other groups tried to bid for a 67% stake in Piraeus Port in 2014 but the sale was suspended after Alexis Tsipras’s took office in 2015.
APM terminals earlier also showed interest in investing into the Greece’s two biggest ports, Piraeu and Thessalonica, which are to be privatised by the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (HRADF), a majority shareholder of the ports’ stocks.
The Piraeus port sale is “part of the bailout negotiations,” and the fact that the government “agrees to privatise the port is a compromise to creditors,” stated the government spokesman Gabriel Sakellaridis on 14 May.
Greece will continue its efforts to privatise Piraeus and regional airports as it seeks ways to attract investment for other state assets, according to its economy minister George Stathakis in a government concession in talks with its creditors.
This post was sourced from IHS Maritime 360: View the original article here.
