The Grimaldi Group is about to widen its footprint in Greece by acquiring a controlling stake in one of the country’s most important ports.
A consortium led by the Italian liner and passenger ship giant has been declared the preferred bidder in the privatisation of the Igoumenitsa terminal.
Grimaldi, its Greek unit Minoan Lines and a third business partner called Investment Construction Commercial and Industrial pledged to spend €84.7m ($83m) on a 67% stake in the port, which is one of Greece’s main gateways to the west.
Grimaldi itself is a big client of Igoumenitsa, which is the Greek terminal closest to Italy, lying on the mainland across from the island of Corfu.
The town of Igoumenitsa is at the western end of a major motorway linking Turkey with Greece and the Ionian Sea. Its port is therefore a key artery for tourists and goods flowing to and from Italy’s Adriatic terminals of Brindisi and Ancona.
According to the Igoumenitsa Port Authority, about 2.5 million passengers and 250,000 trucks move through the terminal each year. The port, however, has no rail link.
According to Greece’s privatisation agency HRADF, the Igoumenitsa terminal covers an area of 210 hectares and its quay is 1,230 metres long, with another 760 metres under construction.
Its port is 10.5 metres deep and there are dredging plans to deepen it by another 10.2 metres.
Grimaldi already owns several port terminals across Europe but none, so far, in Greece.
