Technical and Commercial Advisor for the Privatization of 12 Greek Ports

The Challenge

The privatization of 12 Greek ports marked a cornerstone in the country's process of transferring state-owned assets to private investors. The overriding task of the project was to assess the Greek ports considered to be of national interest, identifying those, which are of interest to the private sector. Subsequently these assets were structured to address market requirements in order to maximize the value to the Hellenic Republic. The future organization of all port assets was hereby analysed in detail in the course of Greek's new National Port Strategy. On the basis of the political consensus on the future port strategy, the privatisation of the Ports of Piraeus and Thessaloniki has been initiated. The Port of Piraeus has been successfully privatised in 2016, while the privatisation of the port of Thessaloniki is expected to be completed in 2017. HPC provided continuous assistance in the transaction processes of the two ports including, amongst others, assistance in the preparation of all relevant tender documents and in planning the negotiation strategy.

Tasks Performed

• Assessment of present and future market prospects for 12 Greek ports covering container, general cargo, dry bulk, liquid bulk, RoRo, ferry and cruise
• Development of long-term traffic forecasts
• Analysis of present port infra- and superstructure in the 12 ports for all business lines
• Assessment of organization structures and operational excellence in the ports
• Preparation of tariff-policy, derivation of revenues
• Calculation of future CAPEX and OPEX for all ports
• Preparation of Greece's Port Strategy Paper
• Preparation of a Technical Vendor Due Diligence Report for the Ports of Piraeus and Thessaloniki
• Continuous assistance in the transaction process of Piraeus Port and Thessaloniki Port

Benefit

• Project structure in line with market and stakeholder expectations
• Conclusion of concession contracts for two major ports
• Learning curve for additional port privatisations