A joint venture of German, French, and Greek companies gained control of the Port of Thessaloniki, Greece’s second largest, for €231.9 million. The sale was part of the country’s ongoing effort to privatise public assets and was part of an open public tender. The venture comprises German Deutsche Invest Equity Partners GMBh, the French Terminal Link SAS (part of CMA CGM group) and Ivan Savvidis’ Belterra Investments Ltd. They gain control of 67 per cent of the company, outbidding the second bidder by a 10 percent margin.
The total cost of the deal amounts to €1.1 billion, including an obligation by the bidders to invest €180m over the next seven years. The deal was made possible when CMA CGM, one of the world’s leading port management companies (servicing 420 of the world’s 521 commercial ports) entered the venture, through its branch, Terminal Link. The venture will manage the port – one of the most significant of the Balkans – until 2051.
This is one of the biggest investments that the Greek-Russian businessman (and owner of PAOK FC) has made in Greece and it follows his pledge to invest €250m in the coming years.