July 20, 2018, 16:39 IST
ATHENS: A consortium led by Italy's Snam will take a majority stake in Greek gas grid operator DESFA under a 535 million euro ($623 million) deal signed on Friday, the country's HRADF privatisation agency said.
A consortium of Snam, Spain's Enagas Internacional and Belgium's Fluxys will buy a 66 percent stake from the government and top Greek oil refiner Hellenic Petroleum .
DESFA runs a network for transporting gas from the Greek-Bulgarian and Greek-Turkish borders via a 1,459-km (907-mile) pipeline. It also has a liquefied gas terminal facility on an islet off Athens.
The transaction is expected to conclude by the end of the year.
Privatisations have been a key part of Greece's three international bailouts since 2010 to help the country attract investment and reduce its debt, which is the highest in the euro zone.
Athens, which will exit its latest bailout in August, has raised about 5 billion euros ($5.8 billion) from state asset sales and is aiming for sales worth a further 3 billion euros by 2019.
"A strong European consortium commits to invest in the future of DESFA, while giving a vote of confidence in Greece, which now has the potential to become an important international energy hub for natural gas," HRADF Chairman Aris Xenofos said in a statement.
