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AXIA Ventures Group named Best Investment Bank Greece by Euromoney Awards of Excellence for the third time since 2015

15/07/2020 14:30

AXIA Ventures Group (“AXIA”) was declared Best Investment Bank Greece for the third time since 2015 by the world-renowned independent organization Euromoney Awards of Excellence.

Among more than 1.500 applications worldwide, AXIA consistently stands out as a leading investment banking group with widespread acceptance within the global investment banking and institutional investor community for handling with efficiency, ethos and speed some of the most complex investment transactions with a direct impact on the Greek economy and its prospects.

It is noteworthy that AXIA Ventures Group, an Investment Bank of Greek interests, with offices in Athens, Nicosia, New York, Milan, Lisbon and presence in London, is the only non-bulge bracket investment bank to have received this distinction in Greece; overtaking its world-renowned competitors from London and New York. The fact that this is the third time it has received this award since 2015, further accentuates this achievement.

Commenting on AXIA’s award, Mr. Alexandros Argyros Managing Director and Head of Investment Banking stated: “Over the past three decades, the Euromoney Awards for Excellence have distinguished the investment banks that offer the highest quality of services, innovation and know-how to their clients on a global scale. This award – which we receive for the third time in the last five years –reflects the range of our capabilities, as well as the ability and commitment of our executives and team to design and implement solutions in a number of sectors of the economy. AXIA enjoys the trust of some of the largest global investment groups while in Greece westand out for the very high profile, carefully selected and extremely innovative transactions we have completed under challenging financial conditions. We are very proud that in these difficult years for our country, we have been able to contribute to the recovery of the Greek economy and the reestablishment of its credibility on the world stage”.

Some of the standout transactions implemented in Greece – just for 2019 which this distinction is referred to– include:

  • The strategic €650m share capital increase of Lamda Development S.A. via a rights issue in order to fund the purchase of the shares of Hellinikon S.A. and kick-start the emblematic urban development plan of the old Athens airport. AXIA assumed the role of Global Coordinator in the largest non-bank equity offering in Greece for the last decade, attracting significant foreign capital
  • The merger of Grivalia Properties, the second largest real estate investment company in Greece, with Eurobank, which resulted in a ground-breaking dealthat allowed Eurobank to strengthen its capital position in a challenging period for the Greek banking system. AXIA played an instrumental role as Financial Advisor to Grivalia, assisting the company in its negotiations with all involved stakeholders and the successful completion of the transaction
  • AXIA participated in the first sizable public securitization of non performing exposures in Greece with a gross book value of €2 billion, acting as Financial Advisor to one of the largest global institutional investors looking to position dynamically in the emerging Greek NPL market
  • Two systemic banks, Alpha Bank and Piraeus Bank, trusted AXIA in their effort to reopen the public Tier II market of the country for the first time after the decade-long crisis. AXIA acted as Co-Manager in the two consecutive Tier II issuances of €400 million and €500 million by Piraeus Bank. AXIA also assumed the role of Bondholder Agent in the €500 million Tier II issuance of Alpha Bank which constitutes the first such issuance under its new Euro Medium Term Note (EMTN) program
  • Finally, AXIA acted as Co-Manager for the issuance of a €670 million green bond by Ellaktor Group that attracted the interest of many international institutional investors

Apart from the aforementioned transactions, AXIA Ventures Group, is maintaining a leading position in corporate restructurings and single credit sales by utilizing its close relationships of trust with some of the world’s foremost institutional investors and has taken on various roles in some of the most innovative, complex and high-profile transactions that took place in Greece.

These are only some of the many activities of AXIA Ventures Group in Greece that rendered it - for yet another year - as the leading investment bank in the country. Among other things, its Equity Research team currently covers 26 listed companies in Greece, which represent on average about 90% of the daily trading volume of the Athens Stock Exchange, having by far the largest coverage in the Greek capital markets.