The intentions of shipowners Giannis Kaimenakis and Dimitris Bakou and the side of managing director Anastassios Kallitsantsis are likely to become more clear today, one day ahead of Ellaktor’s general assembly.
As announced, the two shipowners, who already own 5% of Ellaktor, will exercise the right of partial purchase of 20.5% of the listed company, initially acquiring 12%. The rest will be bought in installments by July. Yesterday, for the first time, Bakos commented publicly on Ellaktor to Bloomberg, arguing that the negative course of the company can be reversed.
The side of the current administration, under Anastasios Kallitsantsi, continues to adopt a more public profile, giving interviews and making public statements.
The Dutch at Reggeborgh, on the other hand, have opted for a low profile stance and appear confident that they will prevail in the proxy war, in the voting, on Wednesday and that from the next day, Ellaktor will have a new administration. The former vice-president and main shareholder of Ellaktor, Dimitris Kallitsantsis, who has been in a dispute with his brother for a long time, sided with Reggeborgh yesterday.
Anastasios Kallitsantsis reiterated in an interview published on Sunday that in recent years there has been a cleansing of the group from the sins of the past, along with improvements in corporate governance. In recent weeks, the current management of Ellaktor has focused on issues relating to conflict of interest and competition, which it considers to exist because Reggeborgh also controls 30.5% of GEK TERNA.
In other words, the current management argues that the board of directors proposed by the Dutch, with the former president of HRADF, Aris Xenofos, as a candidate for managing director, is not independent. It also refers to a recent letter sent by the Competition Commission to Reggeborgh, GEK TERNA and ELLAKTOR, requesting information on the shareholding structure, the management, etc.
The other side recalls that Reggeborgh has not appointed its own members to GEK TERNA’s board which remains the same for years. The Dutch side also says that the competition issues raised by the current management of Ellaktor are not valid as it has the backing of top lawyers.
In the presentations made by the Dutch in recent months in order to secure the support of other investors in view of tomorrow's general meeting, they focused on losses racked up by Ellaktor, the loss of executives, large debt levels and serious liquidity problems. They believe that a considerable increase in the share capital of Ellaktor is required in order to deal once and for all with problems that arose in recent years, making it difficult for the company to clinch new deals.
Anastasios Kallitsantsis, in his last interview, responded by saying that "we have covered the losses of the past. With the proposed increase of 50 million euros, we consolidate the construction sector and are completing the reorganization of the group.”
The final decision will be made on Wednesday, if there is no surprise, by the shareholders of Ellaktor, who will be called on for a second time in two and a half years to decide on a new management. In the construction market, sources emphasize that regardless of the result, the coming months will be extremely crucial for the group as competition intensifies on all fronts, ranging from concessions to energy.
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