Seven parties progress in OPAP bid
Only Triple Five World Group fails to gain approval from privatisation agency to move on to next phase of tender process.
Greece’s privatisation agency has approved seven of the eight interested parties in acquiring the government’s 33% stake in OPAP, with only Triple Five World Group Properties failing to progress.
The remaining parties will now be invited to present their offers to the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund’s (HRADF) before submitting binding financial bids.
Triple Five World Group is a multinational conglomerate and diverse development and finance corporation. According to recent reports the company has plans to invest heavily in Cyprus with plans, among others, to buy 500m of government bonds and establish its own bank in the country.
The company failed to submit the necessary documents before the deadline, however it could yet join one of the other bidders’ consortiums.
Among the remaining potential suitors is a consortium involving Playtech and German gaming machine manufacturer Gauselmann, and Fosun International, a Chinese business conglomerate with interests in and pharmaceuticals, property, steel, and mining.
The rest comprise BC Partners, Emma Delta Ltd, an Intralot Holdings Luxembourg and Intralot Investments Ltd consortium, Third Point LLC, TPG Capital, and Triple Five World Group Properties Ltd. You can read more on each of the interested parties here.
Analysts have valued the stake at close to 1bn given the operator’s market dominance and proposed plans to enter other regulated markets and diversify its offering into online gaming in the near future.