Athens airport listing likely next month
Greece is planning an initial public offering (IPO) for Athens International Airport, the country’s biggest, on the Athens Stock Exchange next month, two sources with knowledge of the plan said on Wednesday. A draft law completing the necessary institutional prerequisites for the listing cleared Parliament on Thursday.
The government in Athens wants to divest a 30% stake owned by the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (TAIPED), the country’s privatization agency. A previous effort to sell the stake to private investors in 2018-2020 ended after Covid-19 brought world travel to a halt.
The Greek sovereign wealth fund HCAP (Hellenic Corporation of Assets & Participations) holds another 25% in the lucrative asset, which handled more than 26 million passengers, mostly foreign nationals, last year, a 25% annual rise. An IPO for a 19% stake in the airport and the listing is seen happening “in the first half of February,” a senior TAIPED official told Reuters. [Reuters/AMNA]
