Two emblematic Athens hotels owned by Greek banks sold

Two emblematic Athens hotels which have put their mark on the city's tourism industry for more than half a century, the Athens Hilton and Astir Palace, changed ownership on Thursday.

The Athens Hilton in the city center was sold for 142 million euros (154 million U.S. dollars) to Greek company Home Holdings SA, a member of TEMES SA, and the Amsterdam-based D-Marine Investments Holding BV, a subsidiary of Turkish Dogus Holding, Alpha Bank announced.

According to a statement issued by the Greek lender who owned the hotel's managing company, the contract to sell its 97.3 percent majority stake in Ionian Hotels Enterprises SA, the shareholder of the Athens Hilton, was signed on Thursday.

The transaction, which is subject to approval by the Greek Competition Commission in coming weeks, is part of the bank's restructuring plan to deal with the effect of the Greek debt crisis.

The D-Marine Investments Holding-Home Holdings consortium won an international tender launched eight months ago.

The Athens Hilton began operations in April 1963. Its guests' book has included numerous heads of states, famous artists and celebrities.

Astir Palace Hotel which also changed hands on Thursday has been a destination for an elite clientele by the seaside in the Athens southern suburbs since 1960.

Greece's privatization fund HRADF (Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund) which oversaw the tender launched three years ago, announced on Thursday the completion of the sale of 90 percent of the "Astir Palace Vouliagmeni Hotel SA" to Turkish-Arabic consortium Apollo Investment Holdco SARL for 393 million euros.

National Bank will use the liquidity to further reduce its borrowing from the Emergency Liquidity Assistance Mechanism (ELA), the chairman of the lender's Board Louka Katseli told Greek national news agency AMNA. (1 euro=1.09 U.S. dollar) Endit