Greece aims to sell 49% of Desfa to Socar instead of 66%

The Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund, which sells real estate, infrastructure and other government holdings, will send on Wednesday a revised tender offer to investors, including China Cosco Holding Co, to solicit bids for a stake in the Piraeus Port Authority SA, according to the people who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public.

The fund is satisfied with an offer of 1.2 billion euros ($1.4 billion) for the lease of 14 regional airports in Greece from Germany’s Fraport AG, and expects to conclude the sale within a month, the people said.

The decision to sell the stakes suggests that Left-wing Syriza government is abandoning an earlier pledge to its electorate to block such privatizations amid efforts to secure further funding from international creditors as part of a 240 billion euro bailout.

The government is also aiming to sell a 49 percent stake in Desfa to Socar, the State Oil Co of the Azerbaijan Republic, instead of the 66 percent originally planned, the people said. They had originally received an offer to buy 100 percent of the company from Socar but the deal was postponed in April following a probe by the European Commission.

Greece is now considering how to proceed with future privatization deals, including selling minority and majority stakes in assets instead of selling them outright, the people said.

 

(Bloomberg)