LeonidsPort B.V. of the French Louis-Dreyfus family, whose homonymous business group (LDC) is one of the world’s largest agri-food trading and processing groups, intends to invest at least 57 million euros in ThPA.
The company seeks to expand its private investment portfolio through a new sector that focuses on strategic infrastructures at a global level, with an emphasis on Europe. In this direction, the investment in ThPA will be its first placement through LeonidsPort B.V. and at the same time its first significant investment in Greece.
The entry of one of the world’s largest business families into the share capital of ThPA constitutes a strong vote of confidence in the port’s prospects.
The development path of the port with the steady increase in operations, high profitability clearly affects the decision of any investor.
The proximity of the port of Thessaloniki to the Balkan hinterland in less than two hours and the dry ports of ThPA in the region also constitute an important factor, as well as the important partnerships it has already developed after its cooperation agreement with the port of Ashdod in Israel, the Suez Canal and the port of Gdansk in Poland.
In the context of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ visit to Egypt a few days ago for the trilateral summit of Greece-Cyprus-Egypt, a Memorandum of Cooperation was signed between the administrations of the ports of Piraeus and Thessaloniki with Port Said of Alexandria. An important role has also been played by the participation of the French multinational CMA CGM in the SEGT consortium, which holds 67% of ThPA.
Prospects
Given the particularly dynamic business profile of the president of the French Group, Margarita Louis-Dreyfus, who assumed the position in the French giant in 2009 when her second husband Robert Louis Dreyfus passed away and managed to acquire 96% of the company by 2020, questions are reasonably raised as to whether the aspirations will be limited to 21% of the ThPA.
Despite the fact that she is sometimes called “tsarina” by the international press due to her Russian origin (ed. she was born in Leningrad and studied law and economics in Russia), Margarita Louis-Dreyfus left the former USSR upon completion of her studies, has Swiss citizenship, lives in Zurich, is a member of the European elite and is one of the most dynamic businesswomen.
