The Greek government has issued a fresh tender to privatise one of the Mediterranean's largest graving docks, Hellenic Shipyards (ENAE), after a first attempt in December last year failed.
Potential buyers of the historic yard — founded by magnate Stavros Niarchos and better known as Skaramangas — have until 7 July to submit binding bids.
Just one suitor has publicly expressed interested — Greek shipping investor Theodore Priovolos and his investment vehicle Pyletech Shipyards.
“Pyletech Shipyards will take part in the ENAE tender,” the Priovolos company said in a statement on Friday.
The company said it is the “only serious suitor” for the yard, which has assets that include land to the west of Athens and the graving dock with capacity to handle ships of up to 400,000 dwt.
But a source close to the sale disputed Pyletech’s claim. “Several more have already expressed interest and others are expected to do so over the coming days,” the source said on condition of anonymity.
Pyletech was the only bidder in the December tender but ENAE administrators rejected its €15.1m ($18m) offer as too low.
The Priovolos entity countered the offer was fair — as any buyer will have to pay about €10m just to settle construction irregularities that bar the business-starved yard from resuming operations.
“Creating excessive expectations only leads to damaging and costly delays to productive investments,” the company said on Friday.
Priovolos heads the North Star Group, a Switzerland-based investment fund. In shipping circles he is best known for heading Niki Shipping, an Athens-based company involved in bareboat leasing deals for containerships.
North Star promises to spend about €700m to revive the ailing yard as a repair and a construction venture for commercial and military shipping.
Hellenic Shipyards was nationalised and put in liquidation in the 1980s. It was privatised in 2001 but, in 2013, the government fell out with the private owners — international shipbuilding group Privinvest.
A bitter wrangle between Greece and Privinvest continues in court. To make matters worse, European Union fines keep piling up on Greece to the tune of €14.4m each year, for granting illegal state aid to Hellenic Shipyards.
