Aqua Bridge is reportedly acquiring Avramar Greece, beating out Cooke after a series of back-and-forth bids for the company.
Multiple publications in Greece including Kathimerini are reporting banks have decided to transfer ownership of Avramar Greece to United Arab Emirates-based Aqua Bridge, including its loans and the shares of the company held by Amerra. According to multiple publications, Cooke is out of the deal, and creditors are claiming the company has no ownership rights in Avramar Greece.
“We are moving forward with the Arabs, we are preparing the papers. It is now a matter of hours,” Euro2day reported an inside investor said.
The news comes on the heels of Cooke acquiring Avramar Seafood, which was the parent company of Avramar Greece before it was separated from the company in 2024 as a means of protecting it from the financial issues. Avramar Greece first began showing signs of trouble in 2023, and the company’s lenders hired Deloitte to initiate a sale process that developed a list of bidders in 2024.
Aqua Bridge seemed poised to purchase the company in early 2025 when Aqua Bridge CEO Mohammad Tabish announced a “significant step forward” in formalizing the acquisition of Avramar Greece. However that deal was complicated by an offer from Cooke, and both Aqua Bridge and Cooke proceeding to offer multiple escalating offers for the company in 2025.
Euro2day said the bank sources reported the deal is “essentially closed,” but that full completion of the deal could take months to complete.