A senior Greek official involved in the privatization process of the Piraeus port revealed to Reuters that Greece has asked three firms to submit binding bids by September 2015 for a 51% majority stake. The agency reports that unblocking the sale of an important Greek asset will be a major concession offered by the country’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to Greece’s creditors. Furthermore, the article also noted that the Chinese firm Cosco, as well as four other companies had shown interest in buying 67% of Piraeus Port stakes last year, however, the procedure was halted when the SYRIZA-led coalition government was elected. According to the Greek official, Athens sent the firms an amended invitation to bid for 51% rather than the previous 67% stake. The three companies that are interested in buying the Piraeus Port majority stake are Cosco, APM and Container Terminal Services based in China, the Netherlands and Philippines respectively. “It will be for 51 percent with an option to reach 67 percent in five years if they invest 300 million euros,” the Greek official told Reuters. “We want to name the winner at the end of September or early October.”
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