ATHENS, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Greece's privatization agency (HRADF) announced on Friday that it received two binding offers for the acquisition of a 66 percent stake in the state natural gas grid operator DESFA.
According to an e-mailed statement, one offer was submitted by a consortium composed by Italian Snam S.p.A., Enagas Internacional S.L.U. and Fluxys S.A.
The other was submitted by the consortium which is composed by Spanish Regasificadora del Noroeste S.A., Reganosa Asset Investments S.L.U., S.N.T.G.N. Transgaz S.A. and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
Companies involved in the process are already operating other similar networks in Europe and are participating in the construction of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline which will transfer Azeri natural gas from the Caspian Sea to Western Europe.
The evaluation process of the two offers will begin immediately, HRADF added.
The first international tender for the sale of a majority stake in DESFA in the context of the wide privatization program Greece launched in 2010 as part of efforts to address the debt crisis, was won in 2013 by Azerbaijan's state-owned oil company SOCAR.
SOCAR had initially offered 400 million euros (497 million U.S. dollars), but the two sides eventually failed to strike an agreement over the final terms of the transfer. (1 euro=1.24 U.S. dollars)
