German-led consortium lands Thessaloniki Port

The improved bid of 231.92 million euros sufficed for the consortium of Deutsche Invest Equity Partners (DIEP) with the subsidiary of France's CMA CGM (Terminal Link) and the Savvidis Group (Belterra Investments Ltd) to win the tender for a 67 percent stake in Thessaloniki Port Authority (OLTH).

The German-French-Greek consortium offered 34.34 euros per share compared to the stock price of 20.5 euros at the Athens Exchange on Monday. Therefore the premium amounts to 67 percent, on a par with what Cosco offered for a stake in Piraeus Port Authority.

The bid by the DIEP-CMA-Belterra consortium values OLTH at 346 million euros against a capitalization of 206 according to yesterday's bourse closing.

This high price, combined with the increased competition among multinational candidates in state sell-off fund TAIPED's tender and the Chinese investment in Piraeus,...