The Public Power Corporation (PPC) in Greece announced on Friday an agreement with UK retailer Currys for the acquisition of Kotsovolos, one of the biggest electronics retail companies in the country.
The transaction at 175 million pounds ($214 million) means that Currys exits the Greek market in a blow to the efforts of the Greek government to attract foreign investments.
Reuters reports that shares in Currys were up 5.4% in morning trading Friday, paring losses over the last year to 24.3%, after it said it will use the proceeds, expected to be about 156 million pounds after costs, to cut debt and reduce its pension fund’s accounting net deficit.
Currys, Power Corporation hail agreement on Kotsovolos
The group said the disposal will simplify its structure enabling it to focus on its larger markets of the UK and Ireland and Nordics.
“As a group, we’re focused on maintaining our encouraging momentum in the UK and Ireland and getting the Nordics back on track,” CEO Alex Baldock said.
The PPC described the acquisition of Kotsovolos as “a strategic transformation move.”
In an announcement, it said: “The agreement for the acquisition of Kotsovolos is for PPC a strategic transformation move, in a market that is changing globally, as the era of energy transition and new electrification creates a whole new world of solutions for households and businesses. With the acquisition of Kotsovolos, PPC is progressing even faster in its transformation into an integrated provider of products and services.”
The President and CEO of PPC, Georgios Stassis, said: “With the completion of the agreement, PPC will be another company: An integrated, customer-centric provider of products and services on a digital and physical level.
“The acquisition of Kotsovolos, as part of our €9 billion investment plan, significantly accelerates the implementation of our business plan, which is based on three pillars, green growth, digitalization of all operations and customer-centricity.”
PPC was privatized in November 2021, when the Greek government decreased its shareholding to 34.12%. Its remaining shareholding was subsequently transferred to the Greek sovereign wealth fund, the Hellenic Corporation of Assets and Participations (HCAP).
Kostovolos dominates Greek electronics market
Kotsovolos has 95 stores in Greece and Cyprus, of which 27 are megastores in addition to the extensive network of physical stores, it has an integrated, nationwide supply chain network with its own warehouses, a privately owned fleet of vehicles and a large network of partners for installations of the devices.
The Kotsovolos company was the first to release state-of-the-art products on the market, such as the first 3D display TV, the first Smart TV, but also the first wallpaper TV with a thickness of just 2.75 millimeters.
In 2019, the first Samsung Hub in Greece and the fourth in Europe was inaugurated in its stores at “Eleftherios Venizelos” Airport.
Read the full story on GreekReporter.com.