A multinational battle of five companies/joint ventures is evolving over the privatization process of ELVO, with leading Israeli company Plasan among the interested parties, as reported by Business Daily, immediately after the recent visit by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to Israel.
The Israeli consortium (in addition to Plasan) which specializes in armored vehicles, includes Israeli state arms industry Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, one of the three largest arms systems industries in the country, and has ambitious plans for ELVO, which includes the expansion of activities into the construction of modern electronic warfare systems. For the implementation of this plan in the long run, investments can reach up to 1 billion euros. The new systems will be available in Greece, Israel, or to other interested parties based on agreements.
In addition to the strong Israeli consortium, offers to EY, which acts as the liquidator of ELVO, have reportedly been submitted by a consortium of the Greek Petropoulos and Kouimtzis groups, which partner with American companies. The German defense industry Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, manufacturer of Leopard tanks, the Italian holding company Ferrovie dello Stato, which controls TRAINOSE and South African defense systems group Paramount also submitted bids. Intracom Defense, India's Tata Group and the Polish group Solaris, which had initially expressed interest, reportedly did not submit bids.
The evaluation of the offers will be done not only on the basis of the offered price, but also based on the business plan submitted by the interested parties. The way the tender is structured allows the government to weigh not only the economic, but also the political - diplomatic - defense parameters of an agreement for the sale of ELVO assets, a factor which may give the lead to the Israeli consortium, at a time when the government is attaching particular importance to cooperating with Israel to curb Turkish aggression. Already, this alliance with Israel has taken the form of a major deal to produce seven new corvettes from the ONEX-controlled Syros Shipyards, based on plans by Israel Shipyards (Haifa Israeli Shipyards).
It is reminded that in the framework of the tender the assets to be sold are: real estate, building facilities in the industrial area of Sindos, equipment and intellectual and industrial property rights. The Greek State will retain the right to acquire 21 percent of ELVO for a price after three years. ELVO has been under special management since 2014 with accumulated losses of 170.3 million euros and total liabilities amounting to 85.4 million euros. The company was founded in 1972 as Stager Hellas with the aim of producing and selling trucks, agricultural tractors and engines. In 1986 the participation of the Austrians was transferred to the Greek State. In 2000 the Mytilineos group had acquired, through an international tender, 43 percent of the company and its management and left the company in 2010.
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