A new era for the Greek construction industry after the INTRAKAT – AKTOR mega deal – New alliances & strategies underway

The country’s construction sector is moving forward with new balances after the completion of the agreement for the acquisition of AKTOR by INTRAKAT. On the one hand we have a new ranking regarding the dynamics and unutilized amount of the Groups with a 7th grade degree and on the other hand we have a different perspective on how, from now on, these companies will be able to compete for taking on large projects.

Today the GEK TERNA Group is the strongest in the country with almost 5 billion euros of unutilized amount. INTRAKAT climbed to second place as it reached 4 billion euros with the addition of AKTOR. It is followed by Mytilineos with 3 billion euros and then AVAX with 2.7 billion euros. Finally, Ellaktor fofollows but without AKTOR anymore.

This new order of things of the Groups will mean a lot in the next big tenders. For example, the tender for the extension of line 2 of the Athens Metro to Ilion will be of greater interest as, for example, INTRAKAT with the experience of AKTOR (which has carried out many metro projects and currently carries out the projects of the Thessaloniki Metro) will have the opportunity to claim this great work. Without it, it would have to ally either with another Greek group, or contract with a foreign company.

It is also of great interest in which forms the Groups will ally in the many ongoing PPP tenders as it is considered likely by industry players to see new alliances, precisely because of the new order of the powers that be in the construction industry.

Of course, the “holy grail” of the construction industry, which is the new concession period of the Attiki Odos, will probably be the most suitable case for  the “weapons” that the big groups will present for its acquisition.

An important factor is also the large building projects in Elliniko, where there seems to be a competition between fewer companies compared to the previous situation. In 2023, once these tenders are completed, we will see how the available pie will be shaped for large private investments as well.

An interesting aspect of the new situation is to see if the restructuring in the industry will stop with the acquisition of AKTOR by INTRAKAT or will it continue with some other investment move at the level of 7th grade companies. There are industry executives who believe that we are likely to see a concentration of power in the near future.

The election period will also provide a period of “adjustment” for the large groups to adjust to the new data, but also for the development of their strategy for the post-election period and the agenda for the projects that will come up, either from projects that are already at the tender stage, or new projects that we will be concerned with after the elections period.