EMEA News
Cosco Declared the Preferred Buyer for Port of Piraeus
Chinese state-owned firm Cosco Group Ltd. (Cosco) has been declared as the preferred buyer for a 67 percent stake in the Greek port of Piraeus, a deal that could make the port a gateway for Chinese goods arriving in Europe, according to reports.
The port is being privatised by the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (HRADF) as part of the Greek bailout plan.
Cosco was the only bidder, with the deal said to be worth as much as €1.5 billion ($1.67 billion) and could pave the way for the port being a preferred transit hub for trade between Asia and central Europe.
As past of the deal, Cosco will pay €368.5 million ($490 million), which is €22 ($24.44) per share, and has also agreed to invest €350 million ($389 million) in infrastructure investments over five years.
"This privatisation makes Greece a gateway for Asian products to enter Europe, strengthens the economy and boosts the country's strategic importance in the region," Stergios Pitsiorlas, chairman of the HRADF, was quoted as saying.
Dockworkers at Pireaus have held a number of strikes in recent weeks to protest the sale of the Greek ports of Piraeus and Thessaloniki, which workers worry could be opened to lower paid foreign workers.
Reports suggest others hail the deal with the Greek state-controlled firm Piraeus Port Authority (OLP) as a positive development that should see hundreds of millions of dollars flow to the indebted Greek government and improvements made to the port.
New projects already agreed to include a cruise ship terminal and ship repair facilities.
Last year Ship & Bunker reported that A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S was lining up to buy the two Greek ports.
