Athens agreed in May to sell a 33 percent stake in OPAP to Czech-Greek Fund Emma Delta for 652 million euros (556 million pounds). The sale was hailed as critical to kickstarting the country΄s stumbling privatisation programme and reform drive. The sale has yet to be completed, however, after Emma Delta, said it wanted to renegotiate a previous, also uncompleted OPAP deal - the purchase of a state lottery licence by an OPAP-led consortium - in which gaming systems providers Intralot and Scientific Games are minority partners.
Ιn his first interview on the sale, Czech investor Jiri Smejc, who controls Emma Delta, said the fund would go ahead with the purchase and review the instant-lottery contract later.
"That would not cause any delay in the privatisation process," Smejc told Reuters.capital
"I don΄t see any immediate or significant risk that would delay or block the (OPAP) deal," he said. He expects the sale to be completed in September, he said.
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