The state privatizations agency said, as the country tries to privatize parts of its infrastructure to meet bailout terms, Greece has received three binding bids for a majority stake in its second-largest port in Thessaloniki.
The offers came from Philippines-based International Container Terminal Services (ICTS); Dubai-based Peninsular and Oriental Stream Navigation Company (DP World); and a consortium comprising German private-equity firm Deutsche Invest Equity Partners, Terminal Link (a subsidiary of CMA CGM) and Russian-Greek investor Ivan Savvidis’s group.
Greece had given investors until March 24 to submit binding bids for a 67% stake in the port. The submissions were tabled at Morgan Stanley in London on Friday. Revenues from the sale and other privatizations are a key part of the country’s ongoing EUR86 billion ($92.77 billion) bailout deal with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.
Apart from the price it has to pay for the majority stake, the preferred bidder will have to implement investments of at least EUR180 million within seven years.
The sale of Thessaloniki Port began in July 2014 but has been delayed several times due to political resistance and waves of strikes by port workers.
Conflicting interests in the Greek government have threatened to derail attempts to sell state assets to pay down debt and bring in foreign investment, a key element of Greece’s bailout plan. Dockworkers oppose the sale saying it reduces the value of the port.
