Qatar, as in money

The deal with Ellaktor hides a broader partnership

 

The agreement between Ellaktor group and Qatar Holding, which were signed by surprise last Saturday and provides for additional investments worth of 360mil dollars by the Arabs in large project of the Greek gold, hides the acquiring of an additional 20% of stakes of European Goldfield, which has the mining rights in the Chalkidiki mines.

Reportedly, the agreement with Qatar Holding, which for starters acquired the 10% of the company shares, was closed in the past few days in London with the participation of Lazzard investment bank as well.

The approval of the environmental conditions of the project by the new environment minister Giorgos Papakonstantinou during last July, paved the way for the partnership with Qatar, which brought on the direct need for financing, as banks had withdrawn from the project.

Of the total amount of 750mil dollars to be disbursed, the 600 will come from the loan that European Goldfield will take from Qatar Holding (seven-year loan at 7% over the six-month labor that will begin to be paid in 2015) and another 150mil dollars from existing shareholders, who are mainly investment funds.

In order for the projects to begin in the mines of Chalkidiki it will take some technical studies and Forest Service approvals, which are expected to start by the end of the month. The overall investment is expected to exceed 1,2 billion dollars.

A statement made by the company reads that Qatar Holding has an option to purchase an additional 9.373.390 of the shares for 13 Canadian marks per share.

The agreement closed at the price of 10 Canadian dollars per share, with the sale of 7,2% of the Ellaktor shares (it owned 19,4%) to European Goldfield and 2,9% of Dimitri Koutras (from 5,9%) . Following the transaction, the construction group and Koutras have joint control over 15,2% of the company’s shares. The total cost for the 10% sale is about 180mil Canadian dollars.

This agreement sets the basis for a broader cooperation between the two sides to exploit the mineral wealth of the country but also in other projects of mutual interest. One should also not rule out some form of cooperation even for the use of Hellinikon, if Qatar finally takes part in the concession process of the area.