Cosco Pacific among Others to Bid for Greek Rail

By Aiswarya Lakshmi March 17, 2016

Tender for the Greek rail service company Trainose, steams ahead with three potential suitors, say local media.

Besides Hong Kong-listed Cosco Pacific, which is certain to participate, the tender has seen the return of Russian Railways, while there is interest from Italy’s Trenitalia for the first time.

Cosco Pacific is being hotly tipped to clinch the bid for Greece’s state-owned rail operator just weeks after winning control of the nation’s largest port of Piraeus, a top Mediterranean container hub.

Italy's state railways is considering bidding for Greece's rail network Trainose, a spokesman for Ferrovie dello Stato said on Wednesday, reports Reuters.

Russian Railways (RZD) is considering bidding for Trainose and that Monday's deadline could be extended to allow more investors to bid.

The deadline for the expression of initial bids ends on March 21. Qualified investors can then submit their binding bids on April 26.

The withdrawal of Watco Companies LLC from the US is definitive, despite its interest in the first Trainose tender. France’s SNCF will also abstain, although it had originally expressed an interest.

Romania’s largest private railway company, GFR, in joint-venture with U.S. firm Watco Cos LLC also decided to drop out definitively of the tender process for Trainose.