GREECE Law and Practice Contributed by: Anna Manda and Venetia Lazaratou, Karatzas & Partners
Exemptions The following transactions are exempted from the scope of the Greek FDI regime: • portfolio investments made by natural persons, without the intention or ability to influence the man - agement and control of the undertaking; • internal restructurings provided that the shares or the percentage of control and influence held by foreign investors do not increase or that the trans - action does not entail additional rights that alter participation in management; and • pending public procurement procedures for which a binding offer has been received and contracts for the exploitation of assets that have not been yet completed.
natural persons or governments, and (iii) for invest - ments in “highly sensitive sectors”, EU investors in which non-EU entities, natural persons or govern - ments have a participation interest of at least 10% (whether through ownership rights or the provision of significant financing); • the target company is active in at least one of the sectors that are classified as sensitive or highly sensitive. Sensitive sectors relate to assets, goods and services (in addition to infrastructure) in the fol - lowing sectors: energy, transportation, healthcare, information and communication technology, and digital infrastructure. Highly sensitive sectors relate to assets, goods and services (including R&D ser - vices) (in addition to infrastructure and technology) in relation to national security and defence (includ - ing dual use items and military technology and equipment), cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, port infrastructure, critical subsea infrastructure and tourism infrastructure in the Greek borderline areas; • there is a Greek nexus – ie, there is a Greek incor - porated business/subsidiary or entity otherwise subject to Greek law (eg, branch, office, production site); and • the FDI is above a certain threshold – the foreign investor acquires a shareholding percentage of at least 25% with respect to the sensitive sectors, and of at least 10% with respect to the highly sen - sitive sectors.
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