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Greece had shorlisted China's Cosco Group [COSCO.UL]
and four other groups for a 67 percent stake in Piraeus Port
last year but the sale was halted after Prime Minister Alexis
Tsipras's leftist government came to power this year.
Pressing ahead on the sale is expected to be one of the major
concessions offered by Tsipras to EU and IMF lenders during
ongoing talks to secure aid.
Athens late on Wednesday wrote to investors with an amended
invitation to bid for 51 percent rather than the previous 67
percent stake, the official said.
Only three of the five initial bidders - Cosco, Dutch container
terminal operator APM Terminals, and Philippines-based
International Container Terminal Services - are still interested
in the port, the official said.
"It will be for 51 percent with an option to reach 67 percent in
five years if they invest 300 million euros," he said. "We want
to name the winner at the end of September or early October."
The new leftist-led government is trying to renegotiate a
240-billion-euro bailout and has said it will review asset
sales, but wants the state to remain involved in any
privatizations.
(Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou, editing by Deepa
Babington/Jeremy Gaunt)
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