ATHENS--Greece's state privatization agency Tuesday took its
first steps to jumpstarting the country's moribund privatization
program, signing off on a short list of bidders for a flagship
property tender and clearing some of the red tape that has
hamstrung several projects.
In a statement, the agency short-listed four groups of
investors--from Greece, Israel, the U.K. and Qatar--for a 70% stake
in Hellinikon SA, the holding company of the vast 1,500-acre
seafront property that was, until 2001, the site of Athens's
airport.
The property, twice the size of New York's Central Park and with
a marina equal in size to Monte Carlo's, is seen as one of Greece's
showpiece privatizations and could net the government an estimated
EUR6 billion ($7.7 billion).
The agency, the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund, tapped
Greece's Lamda Development SA (LAMDA.AT); Elbit Cochin Island Ltd.,
which is a subsidiary of Elbit Imaging of Israel; London &
Regional Properties of the U.K.; and Qatari Diar Real Estate
Investment Co. to go on to the next stage of the Hellinikon tender
process.
Greece's privatization program is a key part of a broader plan
put together by its international creditors to pare its massive
debt burden and attract investment into its recession-ravaged
economy.
But the program has gotten off to a slow start. Originally
tasked with selling up to EUR50 billion in assets by 2015, the
privatization agency is now struggling to meet even its reduced
target of EUR19 billion by that year.
Earlier this year, amid the political uncertainty surrounding
Greece's back-to-back elections in May and June, the agency froze
the privatization program altogether and its chairman resigned. As
a result, the agency looks unlikely to even meet this year's goal
of raising EUR3 billion from privatizations.
But at a board meeting Tuesday, the first since the appointment
of new management, the agency also decided to short-list two
investors--NCH New Europe Property Fund II LP and NCH Balkan Fund
LP--to bid for a prime coastal property on the tourist island of
Corfu and cleared six other bidders--Greece's Lamda Development,
Atlantica Hellas and Temes SA; the U.K.'s London & Regional
Properties; Minoan Group PLC (MIN.LN); and NCH Capital Inc. for a
select real estate site on Rhodes.
The board also approved the contract for a 90-year lease on the
International Broadcasting Center--the site of the media center
during the Athens Olympics, now a conference center and upmarket
shopping mall--with final bids now awaited from preselected
investors.
The agency also gave the go-ahead for the first phase in the
tender process for Greece's natural gas company DEPA, and announced
an agreement with electric utility Public Power Corp. (PPC.AT),
under which PPC would waive its right to acquire up to a 30% stake
in DEPA in exchange for an undisclosed cash amount.
The board also approved a memorandum of understanding with
National Bank of Greece SA (NBG, ETE.AT)--owner of the luxury Astir
Palace hotel in an upscale coastal suburb south of Athens--to
jointly develop the property.
Write to Philip Pangalos at philip.pangalos@dowjones.com
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