By S. Emanouil
A last-ditch scheme to keep Greek supermarket retailer Marinopoulos afloat emerged on Wednesday, with rival Sklavenitis confirming recent reports that it will buy-out the former using bank financing of up to 360 million euros.
Sklavenitis, which posted positive results for 2015, will also reportedly sink 125 million euros of its own capital to seal the deal for the Marinopoulos chain.
During its heyday in the previous decade, the Marinopoulos group was French multinational Carrefour’s affiliated partner in Greece, before the latter withdrew from the Greek market before the onset of the economic crisis in 2009.
A bailout plan reportedly foresees a “haircut” of up to 50 percent for arrears owed to Marinopoulos’ suppliers, assuming the latter agree with the offer.
All four of Greece’s systemic banks have been broached to extend the massive credit line for the buyout, with Alpha Bank following Eurobank on Wednesday in giving its “green light”.
National Bank and Piraeus Bank must now sign on to the deal, with domestic analysts pointing to only a remote chance of the agreement falling through at this stage of negotiations.
Sklavenitis will assume the role of strategic investor in the Marinopoulos group.
The embattled retailer had sought and received a temporary three-month protection order by an Athens first instance court from creditors two months ago.
A possible closure of the Marinopoulos group was a dreaded prospect for the government and the battered retail sector in Greece, given that the continued existence of dozens of suppliers depended on the super market retailer’s ability to pay off at least a portion of its debts.
Along with more than 11,000 employees on Marinopoulos payroll there were thousands of other jobs at risk if it closed and left third parties holding only court orders for payment.
The entire agreement comes within the framework of articles 106(2) and 106(9) of Greece’s bankruptcy code, meaning that, among others, creditor banks must agree to the transfer of all of Marinopoulos’ shares into a new company, which will be fully controlled by Sklavenitis.
