The Greek industry and drinks play a leading role in domestic affairs for another year, completing significant deals from the very first month of the year, with the interest of Greek and foreign investors intensifying. “The integration of Greek dynamic small and medium-sized enterprises, with outward orientation and recognition, into larger Greek groups, contributes to the growth of entrepreneurship and to the strengthening of their competitiveness in Greece and abroad,” Nikos Bris, Partner of EE Greece, recently told the Department of Financial Advisors, Corporate Strategy and Transactions. It is noted that EY Greece acted as financial advisor to Campos Chios for its sale to the Greek Dairyhouses completed in January 2025. For his part, the president of the Association of Greek Food Industries, Ioannis Giotis, has pointed out that the food and beverage industry remains crucial to the economic development of the country, as he is the largest employer in processing with 360,000 direct and indirect jobs, a turnover of 17 billion euros and exports reaching 7 billion euros. CORVERSE According to Mr.Giotis, industry is in a transition period, in which stable decades are overturned and it is called upon to manage a complex framework of challenges, such as increased energy costs and fluctuations in raw material prices, lack of funding and delays in repaying investment projects that limit business potential for investment in innovation and sustainability, while the need to upgrade human resources becomes more urgent than ever. Despite constant challenges, the food and drink industry adapts to new conditions, absorbing much of the cost, while contributing to price stabilization. As the results of the IOBE study show, the Greek food and drink industry is shown to be an important branch for the Greek processing and wider economy and holds the first place in production value in the country’s Manufacturing Industry with 24.4% of the total. At the same time, he is the largest employer in the field of domestic processing, employing 40% of workers in this sector, of which nearly 4 out of 10 are graduates of University Institutions, demonstrating the ability of Industry to create quality jobs. At the same time, the Greek food and drink industry is one of the biggest investors in research and development, with the annual investment of industries representing 10.9% of the total cost of domestic processing for research and development, leading performance in Europe. In addition, the performance of the industry in innovation is highlighted, with the Greek processing of food and drink in the fourth place at European level, along with countries such as Denmark, Estonia and Finland. As far as exports are concerned, the Greek food and drink industry increased by 12.6% in 2023 compared to 2022, over EUR 6.8 billion, which highlights the quality and diversification of domestically processed food and drink, but also the dynamics of the domestic food industry. CORVERSE The new deals of the industry In an investment – a station in the food industry, IDEAL Holdings recently went on to buy, for 130m euros, 100% of the company Barba Stathis and 90% of Halvatzis Macedonian (a subsidiary of Barba Stathis). The transaction is subject to the approval of the Competition Committee and is expected to be completed within the following months. Please note that Barba Stathis was founded in 1969 and maintains a leading position in the frozen food and processing and packaging of fresh salads. The company systematically invests in primary sector and sustainable agriculture and offers quality products with a balanced Mediterranean diet. It has 3 privately owned production units and access to 11,000 selling points, while maintaining an export presence on 5 continents and 22 countries. Halvatis Macedonian, founded in 1972, has modern production facilities in Macedonia (Scydra), has a long and successful presence in the agri-food industry and produces innovative processed vegetable and fruit products. The agreement had preceded the agreement between Premia Properties and Lyktos Holding, interests of Michael Salla, so that the first to acquire from the second the Semel Estate. In particular, the transfer of all shares of Semeli Winery SA was signed with the total price of the transaction (including part of the undertaking) amounting to EUR 10,6 million. Under the agreement, Premia will acquire buildings of a total area of 6,850 square meters (of which a winery in Nemea Corinthia 5.512 sq.m. including storage spaces and 10 suites with a multi-event area of 1,338 sq.m.) as well as parcels of 278 acres (of which 232 acres vineyards in Nemea and Arcadia). The structure of the transaction includes the separation of real estate from wine/commercial activity. Real estate (winery, suites and vineyards) will be transferred to Premia AEPAP and leased through long term lease to the existing company Semeli Winery SA. Semeli SA’s shares will be transferred to the holding company Greek Wineries SA (mother of Boutati Wineries, IOLI SAGE) together with winery and commercial activity, including brands, production machinery, stocks and requirements and obligations. Another important agreement involved the acquisition of the company Campos Chios, a juice and soft drinks industry SA by the Greek Dairy Company SA, the Saranti brothers, known mainly under the brand name “OLYMPOS”. The Greek Dairy Company commits, as it announced, to preserve the same high quality production standards of the products it receives, using pure fruits and the excellent raw material of Chios. It also aims to invest further in the innovation and vision of the shareholders of Campos Chios and to highlight the company as a reference to the category of juices, actively contributing to the strengthening of the local economy of this historic island. At the same time, in the field of table olive oil, AG Olives Group with presence in the United States and Spain announced its cooperation with the Greek company Georgoudis SA – Parthenon, the oldest table olive company in Greece. This is a high added value partnership aimed at expanding the investment programme to the production plant in Volos, strengthening production capacity, improving efficiency, while promoting regional development and agricultural production. This cooperation strengthens the group’s supply and production potential, which has more than 800 employees, operates facilities worldwide and has a production capacity of more than 80,000 tonnes for the supply of products in more than 60 countries. Georgoudis SA – Parthenon, founded in 1897, is a leader in premium special crop olives, with state-of-the-art facilities in Volos and over 100 employees. In the middle of the month, another major deal of the food industry was completed. Arab interests Aqua Bridge confirmed the acquisition of Avramar, the strongest “player” of domestic fish farming, having become a preferred investor in the company’s competition process. The agreement is expected to be finalised by the end of March. In fact, with his post in LinkedIn, Aqua Bridge’s founder and CEO, Mohammad Tabish expressed his thanks to all those involved in the processes and announced the new chapter opened for Avramar. Finally, the decision of the ION Board on the preparation of a transaction concerning the purchase of 100% of the shareholders of INTERION AD based in Kostinbrod, Bulgaria, was recently posted to GEM, with the price set at EUR 10 million. It is noted that since 2022 a majority package in the chocolate industry ION has been held by Bespoke SGA Holdings, interests of the President of BSE, Spyros Theodoropoulos. As stated, the transaction is considered to serve the corporate interest, while the price was found fair and reasonable. The transaction will be implemented through the signature of the relevant sale and transfer contract between the company, on the one hand, and the shareholders of Interion, on the other, subject to any necessary approval procedure, until 30 June 2025.
The food and drink industry in the “radar” of Greek and foreign investors
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