Greek privatisations

G_M

Assuming these go ahead as part of Greece's capital raising efforts, and assuming they are open to overseas investors, do people expect them to be a good investment?

Shares picked up at a snip as the gov desparately tries to ensure the sales go ahead, or investments in dodgy industries operating in a dying economy?

gozomark

both .....................

G_M

gozomark wrote: »

both .....................

Thanks.

I'll make a point of both investing in and avoiding these share offerings when/if they come along.

gozomark

you miss the point - your two options aren't either/or - what makes something a good investment isn't about the quality but about price. "dodgy industries operating in a dying economy" is a great investment if its priced right.

gozomark

in other words, I expect many of them to be "dodgy industries operating in a dying economy" but priced "at a snip"

IronWolf

Depends on the business, and on the price.

You wont know until you look into exactly what theyre selling and what theyre selling it for.

atush

If it is utilities maybe. If it is other things like airlines, transport etc then I would be afraid they would have high ongoing costs of modernisation and may be loss makers.

Tread carefully.

Sceptic001

atush wrote: »

If it is utilities maybe. If it is other things like airlines, transport etc then I would be afraid they would have high ongoing costs of modernisation and may be loss makers.

Tread carefully.

Even apparently "safe" industries like utilities would fall in value if Greece leaves the euro and suffers a subsequent devaluation.

The Argentinian peso fell 70% after it was unpegged from the US$ in 2002. This may be unduly pessimistic, but there are some uncomfortable similarities with Greece. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentine_economic_crisis_(1999%E2%80%932002)

Sceptic001

Interestingly, BBC Radio 4 Money Box has just discussed the question of assets held in Greece. They also made the comparison with Argentina. Maybe they read this thread!

The programme can be heard here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qjnv
The item starts 12 minutes into the programme.

Personally I would not be as sanguine as interviewee Megan Green, who thought that the EU would "backstop" the 100k euro compensation on bank deposits even if Greece leaves the euro.