Olp News

The Cosco-managed Piraeus Port Authority (OLP) and Shanghai International Port Group, the world's biggest commercial port, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) envisioning cooperation in infrastructure studies, personnel training, information exchange and technical assistance. The MOU was signed by Athanasios Liagkos Executive Management Consultant & BoD member of the PPA SA and the Chairman of Shanghai International Port Group, Chen Xuyuan. This development further highlights Piraeus's strategic position on the world map and especially on the New Silk road. The sectors of cooperation mentioned in the Memorandum are: Project Studies, Staff Training, Information Exchange, Technical Assistance, etc.

China's COSCO Shipping , owner of the world's fourth largest container fleet, took a 51 percent stake in Greece's largest port on Wednesday. The sale of Piraeus Port had been suspended by the leftist-led government when it won elections in January 2015 but talks resumed after Greece agreed an 86 billion euro bailout deal with its euro zone partners. COSCO agreed to buy 51 percent of Piraeus Port (OLP) in April for 280.5 million euros ($312.51 million) under a deal signed with the HRADF, Greece's privatisation agency. COSCO bought 51 percent of Piraeus Port (OLP) for 280.5 million euros ($312.51 million), acquiring a block of 12.75 million shares in OLP. COSCO Shipping executive Wan Min rang the opening bell at the Athens bourse at a ceremony to mark the agreement.

China COSCO Shipping, which owns the world's fourth largest container fleet in terms of capacity, is expected to wrap up the purchase of a majority stake in Greece's largest port, Piraeus Port (OLP), next week, sources close to the matter said on Friday. Under a deal signed in April between COSCO and Greece's privatisation agency (HRADF), COSCO will buy 51 percent of Piraeus for 280.5 million euros ($312.5 million). COSCO will acquire a further 16 percent stake for 88 million after five years, and once it completes mandatory investments of 300 million euros. The transfer of the 51 percent stake to COSCO through the Athens Stock Exchange will likely take place on Wednesday, an official close to the process told Reuters.

Greece’s deal with Chinese shipping giant COSCO is “helping the country stand on its feet,” Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said. “We are sending a strong message to the international markets that Greece is decisively entering a new phase,” Tsipras said. According to a report in Xinhua, China and Greece have great hopes for Piraeus port, as attested to by the meeting of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and his Greek counterpart Alexis Tsipras on Monday. Li met with Tsipras in Beijing on Monday afternoon, with much of their meeting focused on Piraeus. COSCO and the Greek state privatization authority TAIPED officially signed an agreement for the sale of a majority stake in the Port of Piraeus (OLP).

The Competition Commission approved the sale of a majority stake in Piraeus Port (OLP) to China’s COSCO during its meeting on Wednesday, saying it is in line with Greek competition laws. According to Greek national news agency AMNA, the next and final step for the changing of hands at Piraeus port is for the concession agreement to be submitted to parliament for approval. “Having taken into account the conditions and prospects of the relevant market, the improvements in its efficiency and the commitments given, concluded that the concentration does not raise serious doubts as to the compatibility of the deal with the performance requirements of competition in the individual markets it concerns,” the Commission said in its decision.

The National Privatization Fund (TAIPED) sources said that Greece's Court of Audit has approved the sale of a 67 percent in the Piraeus Port Authority (OLP) to Chinese Cosco, according to Kathimerini. Greek national news agency AMNA also reported, citing credible judicial sources that Greek Court of Audit, Greece's supreme administrative court, approved  the sale of the majority stake. On February 17 Greece's privatization fund had declared COSCO Preferred Investor for the sale of the controlling stake in Greece's largest port for 368.5 million euros. Under the concession deal which expires in 2052, COSCO will invest an extra 350 million euros over the next decade in infrastructure works at Piraeus.

The Greek privatization fund TAIPED formally accepted the binding bid submitted by Cosco Pacific for the majority stake in Piraeus Port Authority (OLP), while the port company’s stock posted a significant increase on the Athens bourse in response to the Council of State’s rejection of various objections to OLP’s privatization. The renewed and better offer by Cosco for the 67% of OLP has reached 368.5 million euros. TAIPED announced that the sell-off agreement will now be forwarded for approval to the State Audit Council, after which the contract for the sale of the 67 percent stake in OLP to the Hong Kong-listed company will be signed.

The state privatization fund Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (HRADF) of Greece has accepted a “significantly improved” offer from China’s Cosco Group for the state’s majority stake in the Piraeus Port Authority (OLP). “HRADF’s board of directors accepted the improved offer made by COSCO Group (Hong Kong) Ltd in the context of the tender for the sale of the 67 percent of Piraeus Port Authority (PPA) shares,” an HRADF statement said. The Chinese group submitted on Wednesday an improved binding offer of 22 euros (US$24) per share which amounts to 368.5 million euros  (US$401m) for the controlling 67 percent stake in PPA, according to HRADF’s announcement.

Greece said it received an improved bid of 368.5 million euros ($402 million) that China's Cosco Group submitted on Wednesday for a 67 percent stake in Piraeus Port, the country's biggest. The board of the country's privatisation agency (HRADF) met on Wednesday and evaluated Cosco's offer. Privatisations are a key element of an international bailout Greece obtained in 2015. "HRADF's board of directors declared the aforementioned company as the highest bidder and invited it to submit the documents required…

Cosco Pacific is expected to submit an improved bid for the controlling stake in Piraeus Port Authority (OLP) on Wednesday that is set to be discussed at the board meeting of the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (TAIPED), reports Kathimerini. Cosco was the sole bidder for a 67 percent stake OLP, the manager of the country's biggest port which is a gateway to Asia, eastern Europe and north Africa. The agency has asked Cosco to improve its offer. Reliable sources say that the new Cosco offer will be "realistically good" and will likely exceed both valuations that the two independent consultants had made for the TAIPED privatization fund.

China's Cosco sole bidder for the country's biggest port. Greece will evaluate on Wednesday an improved bid that China's Cosco is due to submit for a majority stake in Piraeus Port, a senior official at the privatisation agency (HRADF) said on Monday. Cosco was the sole bidder for a 67 percent stake Piraeus Port Authority (OLP), the manager of the country's biggest port which is a gateway to Asia, eastern Europe and north Africa. The agency has asked Cosco to improve its offer. "HRADF's board is scheduled to convene Wednesday evening to assess an improved offer that Cosco will have submitted by then," the official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. The official said if Cosco's bid was not satisfactory the agency could ask the company to improve it further.

China’s Cosco Pacific is understood to be the only party interested in the acquisition of the 51 percent stake (plus another 15 percent) of Piraeus Port Authority (OLP), reports Kathimerini. Alexis Tsipras's government had halted the sale after winning elections in January but resumed the process under the 86 billion-euro bailout deal it agreed with its euro zone partners in the summer. The deadline for final bids was 1700 GMT on Monday. The Hong Kong-listed firm was the only party to submit a timely binding offer in the context of the tender proclaimed in 2014 by the state privatization fund (TAIPED) by Monday’s deadline, four hours before it expired. All signs point to the absence of a second offer for the stake, which could have created some competition for the asset up for sale.

As the pushed back the date - the Dec. 21 deadline - for the submission of binding bids for the sale of its biggest port Piraeus (OLP) approaches, the pace is picking up with binding bids, reports WSJ. Three of the world’s biggest port operators expected to submit their binding bids next week. Greece’s leftist government had pushed the move back for a year, upsetting potential investors and ​the country’s international creditors. The deadline has been postponed three times since Oct.

Greece has pushed back the date for the submission of binding bids for the sale of its biggest port Piraeus (OLP) by two weeks to Dec. 15 upon investor request, the head of its privatization agency said on Thursday.   China's Cosco Group, Danish container terminal operator APM Terminals and Philippines-based International Container Terminal Services were to submit bids on Dec. 3 for a 51 percent stake in OLP.   "Investors have asked for a two-week extension... to have enough time to check (the company's) financial data", the head the privatization agency, Stergios Pitsiorlas, told Reuters. (Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou)

Greece has pushed back the date to submit binding bids for a majority stake in its biggest port Piraeus to Dec. 3, the head of its privatization agency said on Friday. China's Cosco Group, Danish container terminal operator APM Terminals and Philippines-based International Container Terminal Services were to submit bids on Oct. 30 for a 51 percent stake in OLP. But an early Sept. 20 election held up work and the deadline was pushed back. "We had some delays with the concession agreements so we moved the date to Dec. 3," the head of Greece's privatization agency Stergios Pitsiorlas told Reuters. Setting a date for binding bids for Piraeus and Thessaloniki ports is one of the actions Athens needs to take to unlock the next tranche of its 86 billion euro international bailout.

Greek dock workers walked out on Thursday in protest at the planned privatisations of the country's two biggest ports, a condition of a multi-billion euro bailout from international lenders. Setting a date to submit binding bids for Piraeus and Thessaloniki ports is one of the actions that Athens needs to conclude its first bailout review and unlock more funds for its 86 billion euro bailout. Shipping ministry officials said the industrial action did not appear to be disrupting traffic at the ports. A statement from the dock workers' labour union vowed to avert privatisations and accused the government of attempting to sell out to "foreign owned monopolies". "Ports should be developed by utilizing own capital, through credit facilities and tapping European Union funds," it said.

The Greek government plans to delay the privatization process for its largest Port, Piraeus, by a few weeks due to delays caused by the September 20 election to the works of the ministries involved in the procedure, reports Reuters. The successful investor was previously expected to be announced by the end of September or in early October. “We will fall behind by about 20 days because the concession agreement that the shipping and finance ministries have to sign is causing a short delay,” an official said. The privatisation of the port was a requirement of the third bailout agreed with the country's creditors. China's Cosco Group, Dutch container terminal operator APM Terminals and Philippines-based International Container Terminal Services have until Oct.

Greece will proceed with the sale of stakes in strategic assets such as the port of Piraeus, says a report in Bloomberg. The Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund, which sells real estate, infrastructure and other government holdings, is sending a revised tender offer to investors, including China Cosco Holding Co, to solicit bids for a stake in the Piraeus Port Authority SA. Under the new terms of the port tender, investors will be invited to purchase a 51 percent stake in the manager of Greece’s largest port, instead of a 67 percent stake previously offered, and won’t be offered the management of services for ferries, which was part of the original tender submitted to investors last year, sources said. They expect to close the sale before the end of the year, they added.

The privatization of the port authorities of Piraeus and Thessaloniki has become bone of contention for the government, reports Kathimerini. The finance ministry is in favor of the privatization of Piraeus Port Authority [OLP] and it wants to encourage privatization move, says government sources. However, Minister for Shipping Theodoris Dritsas assured the Parliament of his commitment to stop the privatization of OLP and OLTH [the Thessaloniki Port Authority] to preserve the public character of the country’s ports. The new government announced that a privatization program launched to trim the country’s staggering EUR320bn debt load was in effect null and void.

The Greek government will sell its majority stake in the port of Piraeus within weeks, the country's deputy prime minister told China's official Xinhua news agency, a flip-flop from the leftist government as it seeks funds from its creditors. The Syriza government of Alexis Tsipras took power in January on promises to end painful austerity, saying it would halt a string of privatisations including the sale of a 67 percent stake in the Piraeus Port Authority (OLP). China's Cosco Group was among five preferred bidders shortlisted under a privatisation scheme agreed by the previous conservative-led government as part of a 240 billion euro ($261 billion) bailout programme which Tsipras is seeking to renegotiate.

Greece's Piraeus Port (OLP) , the largest in the country, said its first-half net profit was almost unchanged from the same year-ago period, while sales fell. Piraeus Port, which is privatisation, is one of the busiest passenger ports in Europe, a popular destination for cruise ships and one of the top cargo ports in the Mediterranean. The state-owned company reported a net profit of 3.3 million euros (4.3 million US dollar) in the first six months of 2014. Sales dropped by 3.3 percent to 50.2 million euros, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

The new Greek government led by the left-wing Syriza party will halt the sale of a majority stake in the port of Piraeus, Greece's biggest, begun by the previous government, the deputy minister in charge of shipping said on Tuesday. "We will not sell a majority stake in Piraeus port," Thodoris Dritsas told Reuters. "The Cosco deal will be reviewed to the benefit of the Greek people." Greece had shortlisted China's Cosco Group and four other suitors as potential buyers of a 67 percent stake in Piraeus Port Authority OLP last year under its privatisation scheme agreed with its international lenders. Cosco manages two of the port's cargo piers. Binding bids for the stake were expected by the end of the month. Reporting by Lefteris Papadimas

Though the new Greece government has canceled the port of Piraeus’s privatization, Chinese group COSCO's interest in expanding its activity in the port remains strong. COSCO was the main suitor for the 67.7 percent stake in Piraeus Port Authority (OLP), which privatization fund TAIPED had planned to sell off. Denmark’s APM Terminals was also trying to get the contract. Chinese group COSCO has had a strong presence over the past five years in the Piraeus port. Its subsidiary Piraeus Container Terminal (PCT) manages Piers II and III at Greece's largest port of Piraeus since 2009 under a 35-year concession agreement. Greek officials reassured that…