Public Power Corp SA (PPC), Greece’s biggest utility, hired two banks to advise on its rights to buy shares in state natural-gas company DEPA and gas-grid manager DESFA, as the government seeks to speed up asset sales.
The PPC hired National Bank of Greece SA, the country’s biggest lender, and France’s BNP Paribas, the Athens-based utility said yesterday in an e-mailed statement. PPC, which holds an option to buy 30 percent of DEPA, said in October 2007 that it would exercise its right to purchase the stake.
The government plans to separate DESFA from DEPA and will ask both companies to return capital to shareholders to help attract investors, the Economy Ministry said this week.
(KATHIMERINI, 09/03/2009)