Cosco will pay USD 1.1 billion for Greece's Port of Piraeus

Cosco will pay USD 1.1 billion for Greece's Port of Piraeus Chinese shipping and port giant China Cosco Holdings Co. on Tuesday made a binding offer for a majority stake in the long-delayed privatization of Greece’s main port of Piraeus, a move that is expected to earn cash-strapped Athens hundreds of millions of euros and turn the Mediterranean port into a logistics hub for Chinese exports to Europe.  The Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund, which handles state asset sales, didn’t reveal the value​of the bid, but gave Cosco, the sole bidder, a week to make a better offer. Two other shortlisted investors—APM Terminals, owned by Danish shipping conglomerate A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S, and Philippines-based port operator International Container Terminal Services Inc.—didn’t submit binding bids. “After careful review, we concluded that [Piraeus] is not an attractive business for us,” said Tom Boyd, a spokesman for APM Terminals.  People familiar with the transaction said Cosco’s bid for a 67% stake in the port was around €700 million (nearly $758 million) including about €350 million in infrastructure investments over five years. The original offer to investors was a 67.7% stake. The Wall Street Journal reported that Cosco was the favorite to win the concession given its strong ties with Greece’s government and the fact that it already operates two container terminals in Piraeus under a 35-year concession it acquired in 2009.