Greece, a reluctant seller of state assets as part of its massive bailout, stands a better chance of success if Europe and the IMF are directly involved in the process, bankers working on the deals said.
Oversight from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund would give the 50 billion euro ($70 billion) asset disposal scheme a sense of urgency lacking in local politicians, the bankers said.
"The best way forward is for an independent agency to make the decisions," said one banker working on one of several mandates handed out last week.
"The local politicians have been dragging their feet because they know the Greek people are against state sell-offs. I think there is a good chance that external involvement will be agreed and that things can start properly soon."
The process promises a prestigious job for the many investment banks that were mandated with the sales, but several people involved in the process said they would welcome a firm hand from the international community.
"What's the point of appointing banks if you don't have a motivated seller," the banker said.
Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse, Credit Agricole , Societe Generale, Rothschild [ROT.UL] and numerous other banks have each been mandated, but there is no single coordinating bank.
Greece is creating a fund to pool the assets it is selling and European politicians have been pushing for international oversight of that fund by Brussels, the IMF or possibly also the European Central Bank.
TABLE SILVER
A delegation from these bodies is currently in Athens to discuss the country's dire public finances, and is likely to discuss the fund, whose assets could also be used as collateral for further loans to the country.
"An independent body needs to take control of the process. Leaving Greece in sole charge is too political. Until now (the process) has been a bit of a muddle," a second banker said.
Privatisation is the linchpin of Greece's efforts to cope with its debt burden without having to restructure its sovereign debt, something that would shock market trust in government bonds and which supervisors fear could shake the euro.
Greece this week announced a timetable of when it plans to sell stakes in companies as diverse as Piraeus Port, telecom company OTE, Post Savings Bank and the State Lottery Tickets, as part of a drive to raise 50 billion euros by 2015.
But Haris Pamboukis, Greece's Minister of State, told Reuters this week that he was cautious about any full-on external involvement, even if he was a "fervent supporter" of any outside support that was just technical.
"For Greek companies, if it effectively means handing control over to people who have no knowledge of their management, or of how to deal with social or political issues, is this really the right formula? I doubt it," Pamboukis said.
"We need to find an instrument that can guarantee transparency and efficiency," he added.
Yet a domestic solution may not make the government any more popular in the eyes of the Greek public.
"Before you go and sell a company you need to restructure it to make it more palatable to investors, and that hasn't been done in this case," said Giada Giani, an economist at Citi.
"It would involve job cuts though which is hard for the Greek government to go through with."
Demand may eventually surface for some of the assets if the sales process finally gathers pace with help from abroad, including from private equity firms, said David Simpson, global head of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) at KPMG.
It is already high -- and growing -- among pension funds looking at well-structured infrastructure investments. But that doesn't mean they will be easy deals.
"Whoever the buyer is, they have to believe that these are businesses they can make a profit out of," said Simpson.
"And if the local environment is not going to allow me put port fees up, or lay people off or reorganise things, then I am not a buyer."
REUTERS
