With firepower that exceeds €2.3 billion, GEK Terna is preparing for new investments in sectors such as energy and transport after the private placement of shares to institutional investors that took place yesterday.
With an impressively small discount, the transaction was completed at €42.50 per share, that is 3.4% lower than yesterday’s closing price of the stock.
The amount ultimately raised came to €658 million, exceeding the initial target of €500 million, constituting a vote of confidence from foreign investors in Mr. Peristeris’ group.
It is noted that GEK TERNA’s stock in the last six months alone has risen at a rate amounting to 73%, reflecting the confidence investors have in the company. At the same time, there are quite a few houses that have a target price for the stock exceeding €50 per share, a fact that shows there is still room for further upside.
The capital strengthening
Yesterday afternoon, Mr. Peristeris’ group surprised the market with an announcement regarding the conduct of a private placement to foreign institutional investors through the accelerated book build process.
Of course, there were indications that GEK TERNA had its eye on capital strengthening, as a few weeks ago it completed a series of roadshows in cities such as London and Milan, as Euro2day has written.
Also, in the recent period it proceeded with new agreements that require fresh money. Last week it announced the conclusion of a strategic partnership with Germany’s Rheinmetall in the defense sector, while the day before yesterday it signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with the natural gas company Naftogaz in the energy sector, strengthening its presence in Ukraine.
Also, the group is currently implementing investments that amount to €5 billion, as management mentioned at the recent General Meeting of shareholders.
However, sources stress that the new funds will finance a new cycle of investments. The group is targeting new projects in concessions, PPPs, infrastructure, transport, energy and defense, information notes, adding that the amount of €658 million will act as “seed capital” for the group through leverage.
In its announcement, the company states that “it will use the net proceeds to support the continued expansion of its infrastructure and concessions platform, mainly in Greece, and specifically to finance its identified investment program in the sectors of transport, water, energy, and other related infrastructure, including concession projects and PPPs beyond its current business plan”.
With an eye on new sectors
GEK TERNA’s move follows a similar step by AKTOR, which a few days ago stated that it aims to raise capital of one billion during the summer.
Essentially, both groups are reducing their role in construction activities, turning their interest toward infrastructure and concessions by strengthening their activities in fast-growing sectors.
The €2.3 billion in cash
It is noted that even before yesterday’s share placement, GEK TERNA had a significant amount of cash in its coffers. According to a recent company presentation, at the end of 2025, the group had €1.7 billion at its disposal, of which €853 million belongs to the parent company.
In addition, there have been other capital strengthening steps lately, such as last year’s issuance of a seven-year group bond from which GEK TERNA put €500 million into its coffers. Also, there are the funds that flowed into the group’s coffers from the sale of GEK Terna’s stake in Terna Energy to Masdar.
The dilution of the shares
Although the disposal of new shares strengthens the group with fresh capital, broadens the shareholder base with strong foreign investors and increases the stock’s liquidity, it also has a cost for Mr. Peristeris.
Analysts estimate that the issuance of the new shares, amounting to about 15.5 million pieces, will lead to dilution of the percentages held by existing shareholders by about 10%. It is recalled that Mr. Peristeris holds 31.8% of the company.
It is also recalled that in the context of yesterday’s transaction, both Mr. Peristeris and the company have undertaken share lock-up obligations for a period of 180 days from the completion of the Share Capital Increase
Global coordinators of the bookbuilding were “Banco Santander, S.A.”, “Mediobanca Banca di Credito Finanziario S.p.A.” and “Morgan Stanley Europe SE” jointly with “AXIA Ventures Group Ltd.”, as joint bookrunners.