Bernitsas Law advises on €400m acquisition of Astir Palace Vouliagmeni

Bernitsas Law advised Jermyn Street Real Estate Fund IV LP, a fund managed by AGC Equity Partners, acting through its subsidiary Apollo Investment ΗoldCo, in its capacity as the leading member of the consortium being the successful bidder in the international tender of the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (HRADF) and the National Bank of Greece for the privatisation and re-development of the Astir Palace Vouliagmeni resort, located on the Attica Riviera.

This is one of the most important and high profile privatisation deals concluded so far by the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund with the participation of the National Bank of Greece. It was part of the commitments undertaken by the Hellenic Republic under the “Memorandum of Understanding for a 3-year ESM programme” entered into between the Hellenic Republic and the European Commission on behalf of the European Stability Mechanism in August 2015, and is expected to significantly boost the Greek economy and operate as catalyst towards attracting international investors in Greece. In the context of the re-development of the resort area, the deal also entailed the amendment of the existing town planning regime of an area which is highly protected from an environmental perspective, based on the master plan of the investor and with a view to the sustainability of the project.

Changes to the existing town planning regime have been allowed pursuant to the recently enacted legislative and administrative process of the issuance of a Special Public Real Estate Area Development Plan, which applies only to public real estate properties which are subject to a privatisation process.

The Hellenic Real Estate Development Fund (TAIPED) is the Greek State owned asset development fund, set up in 2011 to leverage the private property of the State assigned to it in line with Greece’s international obligations and Medium-Term Fiscal Strategy. Jermyn Street Real Estate Fund IV LP is a closed private equity fund managed by AGC Equity Partners, a global alternative asset investment firm, operating from offices in London and the Middle East. The Bernitsas team was led by Nikos Vouhiounis.

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Bernitsas law advises on Astir Privatisation

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