Effects from a high-profile deal last week by Attica Group and Grimaldi Group for Hellenic Seaways (HSW) will be immediate and beneficial for both sides, coastal shipping analysts said over the weekend.
By L. Karageorgos
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Effects from a high-profile deal last week by Attica Group and Grimaldi Group for Hellenic Seaways (HSW) will be immediate and beneficial for both sides, coastal shipping analysts said over the weekend.
Italy-based Grimaldi will extricates itself from HSW, as its minority stake in the ferry operator was seen as a liability. In return it will acquire a modern vessel that will serve the company's Mediterranean routes, possibly in the Adriatic. At the same time, Grimaldi subsidiary in Greece, Minoan Lines, will boost its presence in Greek waters with a new route linking tourism-laden Santorini island with the large island of Crete, where Minoan has a dominant position. Minoan will be handed the very profitable Santorini-Crete route plied by Hellenic Seaways as part of the agreement.
On its part, Attica Group acquires the complete control of HSW and is free to redesign routes and service in an eye to maximizing performance and profitability, not to mention becoming a more attractive investment prospect, something that major shareholders - MIG group and Piraeus Bank (which holds 10 percent of Attica's share capital) - are keenly interested to exploit.
Attica and Grimaldi on Thursday announced an agreement allowing for the former to purchase the 48.53-percent stake owned by Minoan Lines - a subsidiary of Grimaldi - in HSW, a ferry boat operator connecting numerous Greek isles with the mainland.