Public M&A in Greece

According to the European Commission, the Greek economy has fallen by over 10% in 2020. However, the forecasts for the next year are quite optimistic with expected growth by 7.9%. If you are considering acquiring a company in Greece or assets, then our blog post will be at handy.

One can start a public M&A transaction in Greece by:

• transactions with assets;
• transactions with shares;
• reorganization.

First of all, the deal structure depends on whether the control exercised over the registered firm will change. Another important factor is whether it will remain registered on the Greek or on the European regulated market.

An M&A deal in Greece between the public and private sectors can be concluded, for example, by announcing a tender offer. The offeror then owns at least 90% of the voting rights in the target company. 

Industry regulations

The Greek Capital Markets Commission (HCMC) is a member of the Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR) and a member of the International Organization of Securities Commission (IOSCO).

In order to enter into a public M&A transaction in Greece, one should obtain prior permission to acquire shares (see the table below).

Start merger of Greek public companies

The most common forms of documentation before the deal starts are as follows:

• protocol of intent;
• commitment to confidentiality;
• agreement on exclusivity.

The latter obliges the buyer not to negotiate with competing buyers during the period when he can carry out due diligence of an M&A deal in Greece and make the final decision.

Information disclosure

If you are about to enter the Greek stock market, please note that the most contentious issues you may face are the definition of the parties to act in conjunction with the offeror, the offeror's business strategy for the target company and the terms of employment.

Both the corporate transformation in Greece, and the merger or acquisition of public Greek companies entails the publication of a prospectus which automatically becomes public.

The tender offer contains increased requirements for information disclosure.

Finally

In 2020 Greece ranks 72nd out of 190 countries in the world in terms of business accessibility. Indeed, this is far from the best position in Europe and not only.

Nevertheless, despite the not entirely stable economic situation and a host of other problems, many companies, and not only European ones, show their eagerness in entering the Greek M&A market. On the positive side, the local authorities do not set any special restrictions on foreign entrepreneurs willing to invest in the Greek economy.

If you are planning to start an international M&A transaction in Greece, please note that such a deal is suitable not only for large multinational corporations but also for companies with an export profile.