A consortium of British and Greek-American interests is planning a 2-billion-euro investment in a golf development project near Atalanti, some 150 kilometers north of Athens, said Brigitta Papastavrou, CEO of Agrotouristiki SA. The project, which will span 1,200 hectares, will include three golf courses, hotels, 1,250 bungalows to begin with, and organic cultivations of olive trees, vines and aromatic plants. Agrotouristiki is acting as technical adviser to the consortium which is now in the phase of compiling the project’s file.

Bonds issued by Greek mobile phone operator TIM Hellas dipped yesterday on speculation that the company may issue a pay-in-kind (PIK) note, bond traders in London said. Payment-in-kind notes are structured so that interest is paid in new notes rather than cash, with the entire amount being paid in one go when the notes are redeemed. The company’s 8.5 percent euro bonds due 2014 fell 0.5 percentage points to be bid at 104.25 percent of face value, the traders said. Apax Partners and Texas Pacific last year bought TIM Hellas from Telecom Italia’s mobile arm TIM in a leveraged buyout. (Reuters)

Bulgarian police have freed a Greek businessman and arrested three kidnappers who had kept him hostage for two days, they said yesterday. Restaurateur Dimitris P., 59, was lured to an apartment in the southern Bulgarian town of Karzhali by a man posing as a potential business partner and two others who abducted him and demanded 80,000 euros ($96,430) in ransom. Bulgarian police worked with officers from Greece to free the victim last week after brief negotiations with the kidnappers, they said, adding that no ransom had been paid. The suspects face up to 15 years in jail. (Reuters)

Shareholders at the annual meeting of EFG Eurobank yesterday approved a 2005 dividend of 0.90 euros per share. A bonus issue of two new shares for every 10 held was also approved at the shareholders’ meeting. Separately, the bank said that its Eurobank Properties subsidiary’s shares will be launched on the bourse at 15.60 euros each, following the completion of its IPO on Friday. The offering was oversubscribed 8.3 times.

The Hygeia medical facility said yesterday it will buy 25.83 percent of the unlisted Mitera maternity clinic for about 66 million euros. Hygeia, which is 49 percent-owned by Marfin Financial Group, said it intends to form a strategic alliance and has ambitions to offer broader medical services in the private healthcare market. (Reuters)

Expansion in the Greek manufacturing sector accelerated to 52.0 in March from 51.0 the previous month, a monthly survey of around 300 companies showed yesterday. (Reuters)