Greek power company welcomes investors from China in lignite unit tender

The new tender for the concession of Greece's Public Power Corporation units at Megalopoli and Meliti opened last Friday, with investors appearing reserved before they see the sale-and-purchase agreement (SPA) terms and the utility itself hoping to see an expansion in investor interest.

Candidate bidders have until this Friday to express their interest, with the proclamation uploaded on the PPC website addressing both those who participated in the first tender and others who did not.

Potential investors which satisfy the tender’s technical and financial criteria will be asked to sign a confidentiality deal with PPC and as of Saturday will gain access to the virtual data rooms for the inspection of the units that are up for sale while also receiving the first SPA draft. Negotiations on the SPA will follow with a view to a May 7 or 8 bid submission deadline.

PPC’s management appears optimistic about the outcome of the new tender, relying chiefly on the participation of companies from third countries, especially China. On the sidelines of an event in Athens last Thursday, PPC chief Manolis Panagiotakis referred to interest from China’s CMEC – with which PPC had signed a memorandum of cooperation for the Meliti plants – and China Energy, which took part in the first tender in cooperation with the Copelouzos Group but withdrew in the second stage.

Panagiotakis expressed certainty about the Chinese corporations’ participation in the current tender and reacted to European Commission reservations, arguing that since Brussels is putting pressure on the Greek utility to divest, it cannot reject any potential investors based merely on their country of origin. That is destined to lead the tender to a failure and the blame will rest solely with the Commission, he said.

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