GREECE Trends and Developments Contributed by: Stefanos Charaktiniotis, Danai Falconaki, Stathis Orfanoudakis and Nadia Axioti, Zepos & Yannopoulos
ing in a dormant state with no investment interest for a long time. Greece’s deep-rooted demand for access to education for all had significantly influenced activity in the market to date, while the lack of regulatory flexibility in curriculum, admissions and pricing, coupled with the slow innovation pace in the education sector, often made it less attractive to investors looking for the operational freedom and technological hype that other sectors had to offer. In 2024, a new trend emerged and awakened the long-awaited interest of foreign investors in Greece’s education sector. Led by the reported rise in private school enrolments from 2019 to 2022, foreign investors seemed to notice the shift from education as a public good to private schooling and quickly focused on the Greek market. The most notable examples of this interest in the past year were the investment of Inspired Education Group, a global leader in premium private schools, in Moraitis School and Costeas-Geitonas School, two of the oldest and most prestigious private schools in Greece, fol - lowed by Doukas School’s partnership with Cog - nita Europe & US, and that of Platon School with International Schools Partnership. Additionally, UK investors acquired an international school in Thessaloniki, and plans are under way for a new international school within the Hellinikon devel - opment project in Athens. In line with this latest trend, newly enacted Law 5094/2024 introduced reforms which seem to alter the higher education landscape. Besides structural changes to public universities, the new law provides for the establishment, organisation and operation of the so-called university-legal entities, namely non-state universities which will be subject to licensing, authorisation and supervision by the Greek Ministry of Education. Having as a starting point the academic year
2025-2026 and subject to the required affilia - tion with a higher education institution operating within the EU, the EEA, Switzerland or a GATS member country, the new framework has already attracted the interest of foreign investors seeking to enter a previously “closed” market. It remains to be seen whether these new trends in the education sector will continue to be in the spotlight in the years ahead. Financial Services Although not in the forefront of the Greek M&A market for the past few years especially due to the economic uncertainty, the Greek finan - cial services sector in 2024 witnessed certain strategic consolidations and acquisitions. A key indicator of a turn is the gradual reprivatisation of all four Greek systemic banks, with the last one being the National Bank of Greece (NBG) following the divestment of the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund’s (HFSF) stake. HFSF successfully completed another offering of its shares in NBG, reducing its stake from 18.39% to 8.39%, down from the initial 84.39% before the start of the process. In the same vein, there have been a few strategic business combinations of operations of financial institutions aiming to create more robust financial entities, improve operational effi - ciencies and address non-performing loan expo - sures. The successful completion of the merger by the absorption of Pancretan Bank by Attica Bank in September, resulting in the creation of a new non-systemic bank, stands as additional proof of the dynamic M&A environment in the Greek financial services sector. As well as the evident interest in banking and financial institutions, a strong presence of for - eign investment activity in the Greek insurance market has lately emerged. Aiming to enter the Greek market and create synergies by enhancing
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