In Brief
Ship owner Restis sets up fund targeting digital services Oxygen Capital Management SA, controlled by Victor Restis, the owner of Greece’s fifth-largest shipping company, set up a venture capital fund to tap growth in the country’s digital services market. Oxygen Taneo NeoVentures will have 30 million euros ($43.8 million) under management and invest in small and medium-sized Greek companies with growth prospects, according to an e-mailed statement from Athens-based Oxygen. The new fund will focus on companies involved in digital media, entertainment and information, the statement said. The fund is beginning its operations in «an exceptionally difficult economic environment,» said Restis in the statement. It «reflects our confidence in the prospects of Greek companies and our conviction that, even under these conditions, there are opportunities for successful investments in the Greek market.» Greek shipowners such as Restis are investing in real estate, banking and media after making record profits over recent years. Greece is the biggest ship-operating nation. Restis is now the third-largest shareholder in Lambrakis Press, the country’s biggest publisher, with a 15 percent stake. (Bloomberg) NBG urges regulators to drop requirement for new call offer The National Bank of Greece (NBG) urged Turkish regulators to drop a requirement for a new call offer in Turkish leasing company Finans Finansal Kiralama AS. Turkey’s capital markets regulator last month ordered National Bank to offer a higher price to minority investors for the Finans Finansal shares, after a Turkish court ruled that the price of 3.97 liras a share offered in December 2006 was too low National Bank hired an independent consultant to value Finans Finansal and was told the company is currently worth between 3.42 liras and 3.49 liras a share, the Athens-based lender said in a filing with the Istanbul Stock Exchange yesterday. It’s «legally and practically not possible» to repeat the call as the company is now worth less than the original price, National Bank said, urging the Turkish regulator to drop its insistence on a second call offer. Finans Finansal is a unit of Finansbank AS, the Turkish lender in which National Bank acquired a majority stake for $2.8 billion in August 2006. (Bloomberg) Athena deal Athena SA, the Greek builder controlled by J&P Avax SA, signed a contract to build four crude oil storage units for Hellenic Petroleum, the country’s biggest refiner. Athena will build the four double-walled units in Thessaloniki for 22 million euros ($32 million), according to a bourse filing yesterday. The project is due to be completed in 24 months. (Bloomberg) Romanian property Romania’s buoyant real estate market may lose steam as financial turbulence boosts borrowing costs and leads to tighter lending conditions, the finance minister and the International Monetary Fund have been quoted as saying. The real estate market, including construction and hefty foreign investment in property, has so far been a key driver of growth in the new European Union state as buyers flocked to what was seen as one of the most attractive sectors in Europe. «It is possible to see a contraction in the residential housing area,» Finance Minister Varujan Vosganian was quoted as saying by daily Ziarul Financiar yesterday. (Reuters)
