Three bids in OLTH tender as Mitsui opts out

In the end, the number of binding bids for submitted to state sell-off fund TAIPED for the 67 percent stake in Thessaloniki Port Authority (OLTH) came to three, and not four, as had been expected.

The fund released a statement on Saturday saying that bids had come from a consortium comprising Deutsche Invest Equity Partners, Terminal Link (a subsidiary of CMA CGM) and Russian-Greek investor Ivan Savvidis’s group, as well as from Dubai Ports World and Philippinesbased International Container Terminal Services. Japan’s Mitsui abstained from the process, although it had previously participated with increased interest. According to sources it asked for an extension to Friday’s deadline, but this was not granted.

TAIPED will now seek to obtain improved offers from all three bidders, to secure the best possible result from the tender. The successful bidder will undertake the administration, development and utilization of OLTH for the next 40 years. The completion of the contract will require another four months after the winning offer is chosen, to allow for the necessary clearance from the regulatory authorities and Parliament.

According to the concession contract the chosen bidder will sign, they will have to implement investments of at least 180 million euros in the first seven years and increase the volume of container traffic to 550,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) within nine years.