Legislation
Greece – Greek prosecutor investigates OPAP sale
By Lewis - 12 February 2014
Athens prosecutor, Ioannis Sevis, is investigating the sale of Greece’s gambling monopoly, OPAP, to a consortium of local, Czech, Slovak and Russian investors. The €652m deal allowed the Greek privatisation agency, Taiped, to meet its repeatedly reduced 2013 revenue target of €1.3bn, and show that Greece is on track with the austerity program imposed on its by its international bailout.
The probe was launched weeks after Emma Delta, a Cyprus-registered bidding vehicle, paid €652m in October for the state’s 33 per cent stake in OPAP and replaced the chief executive and other board members with its own appointees. Emma Delta submitted the only valid binding offer.
The privatisation was not, however, a straightforward affair. Taiped chief Stelios Stavridis became the third head of the agency in 12 months to lose his job shortly after the completion of the deal. Mr. Stavridis was forced to step down when he was shown to have been photographed on board a private jet belonging to Dimitris Melissanidis, the principal Greek partner in the consortium that bought OPAP. Mr. Melissanidis, a self-made billionaire, may have been unqualified to own the gambling business because of prior convictions.
An unusual piece of legislation approved by the Greek parliament last April – shortly before Emma Delta and Third Point, the US hedge fund, were named as shortlisted bidders for OPAP – has raised questions about the country’s commitment to transparent procedures in line with EU gaming industry standards. A clause inserted into an existing investment law froze until last month the Greek gaming regulator’s obligation to carry out a “probity” check on potential buyers of OPAP, to ensure they were not involved in any criminal activities or money-laundering.
The leading investors in OPAP are Jiri Smecj, a Czech billionaire, and Dimitris Melissanidis, a Greek oil tycoon. Mr Smecj controls Emma Capital, an investment company which set up Emma Delta as a vehicle to bid for OPAP. He holds a 22.5 per cent stake in Emma Delta, but controls 66.7 per cent of voting rights in Emma Delta through a separate management company. Mr. Melissanidis controls a stake in Emma Delta held through a Cyprus-based company.
The OPAP sale was completed around the time Mr. Melissanidis reappeared in Greek football, saying he was committed to reviving the fortunes of AEK, an Athens club that won three championships in 1992-94 under his ownership. Mr. Melissanidis was criticised after AEK was awarded €1.9m of sponsorship by OPAP in September 2013. The decision was unprecedented as individual clubs in the third division have not previously been considered eligible for OPAP funding.
