Bid terms confirmed for Hellenic stake

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Greece's Agricultural Bank today formally invited expressions of interest for a stake of between 40% to 60% in subsidiary Hellenic Duty Free Shops (HDF) as the state-run bank restructures to focus on core business. Agro Bank has a 60% stake in Hellenic.

PricewaterhouseCoopers Business Solutions and Agrotiki Asset Management have been retained as sale advisers, the bank said in advertisements in the Greek press.

In 1998 Hellenic Duty Free won a 50-year licence from the Greek state to operate duty-free stores. It operates stores at Athens and all the country's international airports, borders and on regional ferries. Hellenic reported sales of Eur168m ($147m) in 2001, an 18.3% increase year-on-year, and pre-tax profit of Eur29.66m ($26.0m), down 4.3%.

The first stage of the tender process ends with expressions of non-binding interest on May 13. Bidders will have to indicate the percentage stake they are interested in and methods of financing the acquisition at the initial stage, to be able to proceed to the second stage.

The bank gave no timeframe for the submission of binding bids or completion of the procedure but it said the aim of the sale was to "complete in a short time a successful transaction with the least possible disruption" to the company.