Greek poise goes beyond flawed bond markets

Lamda Development SA

12/12/2019 10:09

(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist.  The opinions
expressed are his own.)
    By Christopher Thompson
    LONDON, Dec 12 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The $720 mln rights
issue by Lamda to start work on Athens’ Hellinikon project gives
a boost to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who championed
the development. It’s a far better gauge of confidence in Greece
than sovereign debt yields, which are partly skewed by ECB
policy.     
    Full view will be published shortly.
    On Twitter https://twitter.com/CGAThompson
    
    CONTEXT NEWS
    - Greece’s Lamda Development announced plans to raise up to
650 million euros on Oct. 10 to begin work on an 8 billion euro
development of luxury homes and offices at a disused airport
site in Athens next year. The Athens-listed property company has
offered shareholders a price of 6.70 euros per share,
representing a 5% discount to the theoretical ex-rights share
price of 7.06 euros.
    - The former Hellinikon airport, a sprawling site of disused
runways, terminals and venues used for the Athens 2004 Olympics,
has been abandoned for almost two decades.
    - The project, part of a post-bailout agreement between
Greece and its lenders, has faced several hurdles in recent
years. But a newly elected government has expedited plans,
including a tender for a casino resort at the site. 
    - Lamda shares were up 0.7% at 7.45 euros at 1000 GMT on
Dec. 12.
    - For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can
click on  THOMPSON/ 
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Lamda hopes to start huge development at former Athens airport
in January      urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N26U387
Lamda rights issue statement    https://www.lamdadev.com/en/investors-information/company-news/announcements/5469-lamda-development-s-a-announcement-of-resolution-of-the-extraordinary-general-meeting-dated-10-10-2019.html
BREAKINGVIEWS-Hercules is set to soothe Greece’s Achilles heel  
  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N27T0K9
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 (Editing by Rob Cox and Oliver Taslic)
 ((Christopher.G.Thompson@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging:
Christopher.G.Thompson.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))