Black Box: Athens will drown in the trash with Patouli’s signature and a short deal where David would buy Goliath
Less than a month has passed since the column expressed its concern that something is wrong with the actions of Regional Governor George Patoulis, who is behaving as if he wants to kill the projects for the three waste management units in Attica.
Another test came on Tuesday to confirm our concerns. The new Regional Waste Management Plan, which includes the major issue of waste management and the creation of new units, was to be approved by the Executive Committee of the Special Interdisciplinary Association of the Prefecture of Attica, known as ESDNA.
There are over-expectations that the discussion will lead to the green light for the projects that are so big that Attica will breathe from the garbage.
Those who believed it were refuted by the facts.
The column was informed that G. Patoulis decided to mention indefinitely the discussion and approval of the plan. Why; Let the Governor himself answer. This indifference, however, is another indication that either the Governor cannot or does not want to be compared to the interests that are fighting for investments.
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For a long time, market information said that AB Vassilopoulos was besieging the Masoutis supermarket chain in an attempt to hit the fifth largest player in the industry and to strengthen by adding around 900 million euros in turnover.
These were written at least, and that is what the market believed. But come on, in recent months the project has played … upside down and the Masoutis chain was the one that was in the position of the buyer and AB Vassilopoulos in that of the acquired.
The column does not hide that you were surprised to learn that without the slightest leak, in-depth discussions took place between the two sides and the once leading force of the supermarket chains, which today plays between second and third place in the industry after Sklavenitis and Lidl, to take control of Masouti. Imagine the impact of such a deal where David buys Goliath.
At the end of the day, however, the negotiations did not work, no white smoke came out and the two chains continue on their own.
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The investments related to the Greek company in the country change the scene and show the way for the next day of the Greek economy. The money is a lot, over 28.5 billion euros. We have been saying for a long time that there is no case for foreign investors to bring their money to Greece to invest seriously, if the first Greek companies did not make funds to start investing in the real economy. And we are not just talking about acquisitions, mergers and exchanges of “paper”, but mainly about tangible investments in “concrete”, factories, production units, real estate, green and digital transformation.
Well, with what has been announced or is already running lately, we no longer have reason to doubt that Greek companies have received the message and are broadcasting it in the loudest way.
When we hear that PPC will invest 8.5 billion euros in the next 5-6 years, the GEK TERNA group another 6.5 billion euros, Lamda at least 2 billion euros in the first five years for the development of Elliniko, Mytilineos over € 1 billion in energy alone, ElvalHalcor has already invested over € 1.5 billion, telecommunications over € 3 billion in network upgrades, Intrakat over € 1 billion in green projects, ERGOSE about 4 billion euros in new projects and maintenance of OSE, we realize that something very important is starting to happen in the real economy.
The list of Greek companies that “throw” hot money in the real economy does not stop here. The Greek pharmaceutical industry is planning investments of 1.2 billion euros over a period of four years, smaller companies have joined in important investments, apart from the market giants.
The most important thing, however, is not that the investment gap of 100 billion euros, which is large in our country over time, is gradually being filled, but the fact that Greek companies, putting their hand in their pocket, are showing the way to … foreigners. So Pfizer is investing more than 100 million euros for nodes in Thessaloniki, Microsoft is pouring over 1 billion euros into data centers and was acquired by the American DigitalRealty, Lamda Hellix, itineraries and it invests 1 billion euros for data centers.
Let’s not forget the big investments that Fraport has already made and of course the Teamviewer hub in Ioannina. It is now clear that Greece has climbed the track and is at the center of investment interest of Greek and international groups of companies.
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Interesting things are said to go hand in hand in Greece, to some extent, under the radar. For example, on Monday and Tuesdays, an international conference was held on the island famous for its private and not just parties – we mean of course Mykonos – from which the millionaire companies paraded. For example, Bill Barhydt, founder and CEO of Abra of the American start-up that has created a search application from those involved in cryptocurrencies. And to impress you a little more. Barhydt arrived on the island of the Winds by helicopter, but, by the way, is ten tones lower than many Greek CEOs we know. In the meantime, foreigners believe that this is the time of Greece, where the political and economic risk has been established and is struggling to be investment-friendly. These are the data evaluated by the investment capital Viva Investment Partners that plans investments in both Mykonos and Kea.
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The FTSE Large cap is not the only stock market. Investment opportunities and good options for the next day also exist in small capitalization, where others have already come out with very good returns. Managers and analysts will have the opportunity to penetrate deeper into the prospects of the “small” stock market on the 4th ATHEX – Conference organized online at the Athens Stock Exchange on December 20 and 21. The selection of the 12 companies that will participate shows that good preparation has been made and the important thing is that many good short presentations are not afraid to be “naked” in front of the demanding audience of institutional investors. The companies Briq Properties, Iktinos, Dromeas, Papoutsanis, Rerformance, Profile, Real Consulting, Revoil, Motodynamics, Interlife, AVE Group and Alpha Trust Mutual Fund Management will participate in the presentation.
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The revelation was made by the Liberal Markets for the conduct of negotiations between the Spyros Agricultural House and the group of investors. We now inform you that the negotiations did not reach an agreement. The shares are not transferred to new players and so the listed company stays with the prospects they have and of course with the debts of millions of euros. As stated in the financial statements of the notice for 2020, “the current liabilities of the Group exceed the current assets by 14,022 thousand. euros and the company in the amount of € 13 thousand euros respectively.
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Your column had timely reported on the business move of the Founder and CEO of Peoplecert, Vyrona Nikolaidis to acquire the British company Axelos, in which the British government was a participant (by 49%). Today the company is Unicorn, as it is sent to 1.1 billion euros and in 2022 its value is estimated to reach 1.750 billion euros. Will it knock on the door of Wall Street as a “unicorn”?
The goal of the Hellenic Company is to continue the development of the company by making at least one to two acquisitions per year, either with own funds, or by entering the stock market, or by issuing a bond. It is recalled that the company issued a bond with the aim of raising 102 million euros and the offers have already exceeded the target and are at 104 million euros. Remember that the Greek company is on track and other surprises are not ruled out…
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