The time is running out to complete the sale of Helleniq Energy's 35% stake in DEPA to the Greek State. According to well-informed sources, an agreement in principle has been reached on the transaction and thus the deal is expected to be finalised by the end of the year. This will bring the state's stake in DEPA Commercial to 100%, up from 65% currently. 

As the same sources note, pending is a pending legislative regulation that will give the Hellenic Property Fund the ability to make acquisitions, as under the statute it can only sell or lease assets.

DISCLOSURE

The valuation of the transaction for the 35% of DEPA is estimated to be close to €200 million, while it appears that the solution of offsetting the dividends received by the HRADF as a shareholder of 31.2% of Helleniq Energy will be followed for as many years as necessary until the transaction amount is completed. 

GAZPROM 

A thorn in the deal negotiations was the disagreement over Gazprom's €400m claims—for take-or-pay clauses for the 2021-2022 biennium—for which DEPA Commercial has appealed to international arbitration. However, this process is already underway, and sources on the Greek side—which has appealed the process—believe that the arguments are in its favour and estimate that the decision expected next September will vindicate it. 

The reason for the appeal concerns the price at which the Russian company supplied it with natural gas in the period 2022-2023. The contract between the two companies provided for a negotiation procedure before the appeal, but this was time-consuming and did not pay off. It is noted that DEPA is also requesting a retroactive price adjustment under the contract from 2022.