One would imagine that for Jamie Dinan, co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks, the most significant Greek investment he made in recent years was the $100-million contract the team agreed with Giannis Antetokounmpo for the upcoming four years. But reality is different…

 Apart from his involvement with the Bucks, Mr. Dinan is most commonly known for being Head of York Capital Management. With headquarters in New York and offices in London and Hong Kong, the famous investment firm has become one of the major players in merger and acquisition transactions, distressed securities and restructuring opportunities and special situation equity investing.

The Firm entered the Greek market in 2013, a year when the Greek economic crisis was still at its peak and many questioned the country’s chances for recovery. Clearly being one of the few with an opposite view, Dinan saw Greece as a landscape with great margin for profit and invested an amount of approximately €100-million in Greece’s construction and energy sector. In addition, during the next year the firm completed another significant investment in the Greek real estate sector. Indeed, it has been estimated that the total funds already invested by the American investment firm in Greece reach €225-million!

So far, it’s been expressly stressed out that Greece will be at the top of York Capital Management’s growth strategy. In one of his rare public placements last summer to the US television network CNBC, Dinan pointed out that except for Japan, the firm is also targeting the European markets. He mentioned that there is a lot of activity in Europe right now, since many big companies are under pressure, which makes European equities very tempting.

Last October, on the trip he made to the United States, the Greek Economy and Development Minister Mr. Dimitris Papadimitriou met with some senior York Capital Management executives, discussing the investment opportunities currently presented in the Greek market. After just a few months, this meeting seems to be paying off.

A few days ago, Greek newspaper Realnews reported that during the first half of 2018, York Capital Management is expected to formally announce or even realize its interest in investing massive amounts in the field of energy development in the country. The energy projects in which the firm is showing interest are related not only to the energy supply networks, but also to upcoming construction projects that are expected to begin next year in Greece in the field of fossil fuel exploitation as well as in renewable energy sources. The expected new investment in Greece is entirely aligned with the strategy followed by the American billionaire, especially during these past years. In fact, Dinan himself has emphasized that the focus of his investment activity is the opportunities that are found in companies, industries and markets undergoing restructuring. No doubt that this renders Greece an ideal investment landscape for the firm.

10 January 2018