China Cosco Shipping and Greece confirm terms
CHINA Cosco Shipping Group and the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund have signed a confirmation letter for the sale of a majority stake in Piraeus Port Authority to the Chinese conglomerate, putting the final seal on the deal that almost encountered changes last week.
According to MANA,The letter, signed on Monday in Beijing, confirmed that all terms in the April agreement regarding CCSG’s purchase of a majority ownership stake in Greece’s largest port have been approved by the two parties, according to a statement made by the Chinese state-owned conglomerate. The HRADF handles state asset sales.“So the next step will be the actual transaction,” a CCSG spokesman said, adding both sides will push for the transaction as soon as possible.
The signing was witnessed by Chinese premier Li Keqiang and his counterpart Alexis Tsipras.
In April, Greece agreed to sell a 67% stake in PPA for €368.5m ($420m) to the Chinese shipping giant, created by the merger of Cosco Group and China Shipping Group earlier this year.
Under the deal, CCSG will firstly acquire the 51% stake for €280.5m and then the remaining 16% for €88m after five years and once it completes €350 in investment over the next decade.
However, the deal seemed to have run up against a last-minute blow, as CCSG’s Greece subsidiary said in a letter last week to lawmakers that some key terms in the pact were altered, after it was submitted by Athens’ shipping ministry to parliament for approval, according to Reuters’s report.
The Cosco Group has been investing in the port’s container terminal since 2009, after winning a 35-year concession to operate the terminal.
Total box throughput in the port has increased to 3.36m teu in 2015 from 880,000 teu in 2010. CCSG said its investment has also increased the Greek government’s financial income, with 1,200 local jobs being created during the period.