greece market

STRATEGIC ADVISORY

Strategic Advisory – Greece Market

VIVA Investment Partners (“VIP”) has been active in Greece for eight years. In 2013, Dr Julie Meyer MBE, the founder of VIP, was invited to Athens in order to promote her seminal book, “Welcome to EntrepreneurCountry”, by her Editor and Publisher, Alexandra Vovolini.

During this tour, Dr Meyer encountered a country only just emerging from the financial crisis of 2008/9. After five years of recession, it was predicted that Greece would leave the EuroZone (“Grexit”), descend into political chaos, and extend its economic decline.

None of this came to pass. Greek GDP remained stable to rising from 2014 until the Pandemic. The country formally exited the EU’s “enhanced surveillance framework” on 20 August 2022 having experienced almost 9.0% GDP growth in 2021, close to the fall caused by the Pandemic.

Politically, however, Greece experienced a period of uncertainty with the 2015 election of Syriza, a left-wing party which replaced the more traditional centre left PASOK. Syriza conducted a campaign of opposition to EU-led restructuring, calling snap elections and placing the Government under caretaker frameworks, which may have prolonged the crisis. Syriza was defeated in the 2019 Election by New Democracy, led by Kyriakos Mitsotakis who remains the Prime Minister to this day.    

During this period of political uncertainty, Dr Meyer and VIP worked with Greece remotely, formulating a strategy which would be implemented once the political environment became more conducive to entrepreneurs and growth.

Dr Meyer returned to Greece in November 2019 and started immediately networking through the INSEAD community, building relationships which serve VIP and its clients today.

Central to this work is the Follow The Entrepreneur Program, Since 2019, VIP has hosted more than 5 Investor Summits in Greece and brought more than 300 investors and 100 entrepreneurs to the Country through these events.   In addition to the formal program of contact, VIP has encouraged various investors to Greece, all of whom have set up businesses and bought property.

Today, VIP operates from Greece through its subsidiary; owning offices housing a strong staff of former financiers and operations executives.  It undertakes Strategic Advisory mandates for clients who are interested to participate in what the Financial Times calls the 7th Economic Wonder of the World: Greece.

These mandates cover a wide range of activities but focus on one purpose: the efficient funding of growth-orientated companies. Under Dr Meyer’s management, the VIP team undertakes valuation analyses, bespoke research projects, investor targeting, and corporate finance. Its advisors work with Board-level and executive teams to ensure that issuers and investors understand the challenges and opportunities; combining for the system-level win.   

Uniquely, Dr Meyer has access tp the Greek C-suite and Government through her VIP platform, INSEAD network, and the profile of her work in the recent past.

In combination, Dr Meyer and VIP have helped Greek companies achieve their potential and Greek investors seize the opportunities presented. They will continue to work on this basis; delivering for Greece and Greek entrepreneurs.