It rains in the wet in the shadow of the Parthenon. After Fage, a company active in the dairy sector, announced its farewell to the Hellenic Stock Exchange, now it's the turn of Coca-Cola Hellenic, which has decided to abandon the Athens price list and sail from the Aegean coast towards more liquid price lists.
The company, which it manages through various subsidiaries the bottling of the popular drink in 28 countries including Italy, will move its registered office to Geneva and its shares will be listed on the Swiss and London stock exchanges. Coca Cola Hellenic, 23% controlled by the American multinational, was the largest company listed on the Athens stock exchange, in which a chasm is now opening.
"It's a way to better represent our international corporate base," Coca Cola said, although taxation-related reasons probably helped guide the choice. Coca Cola Hellenic has communicated that the turnover and the Greek factories - moreover only a small part of those of the group, which boasts revenues of more than 6 billion dollars - will not suffer any setbacks.
However, the word Hellenic will be removed from the company name. If employment does not appear to be jeopardized, at least in the short term, the moves of the can giant could have negative repercussions on the image and on the disastrous state of the economy of Athens.
