Israel Aerospace Industries buys majority stake in Intracom Defense

Ιntracom Defense (IDE), a subsidiary of the Intracom Holdings group, signed an agreement in Athens on Tuesday to sell 90.91% of its shares to Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), the Israeli company said in a statement.

The deal is valued at nearly €60 million and is expected to close by the second quarter of 2023, once conditions are met and the necessary approvals are obtained. IDE specializes in the production of missile launchers, missile subsystems, land and sea tactical communications, and hybrid generation. The company operates in Greece and other NATO countries, cooperates with leading companies in the US and Europe in the field of defense.

As a Greek division, IDE will be integrated into IAI’s business activities in Greece and Europe, providing solutions to problems faced by countries on the continent. “After the current acquisition, the company’s Greek clients will continue to benefit from the company’s independence as well as a wider range of services for new markets,” IAI said in a statement.

The Intracom group of companies belongs to Sokratis Kokkalis – a Greek businessman included in the list of “500 richest people” in the world according to ‘Forbes’. Kokkalis is Chairman, CEO and majority shareholder of Intracom Holdings, one of South-Eastern Europe’s largest multinational technology groups. In addition, Sokratis is the chairman and majority shareholder of ‘Intralot SA’, a leading gaming technology provider and organizer of lottery programs.

For 18 years – until December 30, 2010 – Sokratis Kokkalis was the owner and chairman of ‘Olympiacos’ – the most famous and successful Greek football club. Under him, the club won 12 league titles in the top division, 5 Greek Cups (Greek Cups) and 1 Greek Super Cup (Greek Super Cup). In addition, it was during the reign of Kokkalis that a deal was signed to lease the ‘Karaiskakis’ stadium for 50 years and a fairly large-scale renovation was organized.

A 350-page report was found in the Stasi archives, which mentions the agent “Rocco” (“953/63”), and then “Cascade” and “Crocus”. It has been claimed that “Rocco” was the code name for Sokratis Kokkalis, allegedly recruited on January 25, 1963. Kokkalis is alleged to have subsequently bribed Greek officials to have Greece’s national telecommunications company purchase East German telecommunications equipment.

The German Federal Parliament conducted a detailed investigation and concluded in 1998 that there was no evidence linking the activities of Kokkalis and his companies with East Germany. Kostas Tzimas, former head of Greek intelligence (EYP) and a very close friend of former Greek Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou, stated that Kokkalis is a “Greek patriot” who “worked for the national interests of Greece in the Balkans and elsewhere.”

Greek and international media criticized Kokkalis for his activities in Russia, where his company Intralot sold lottery equipment, technological know-how and software. However, no official charges were brought against Intralot representatives, and the Russian government expressed confidence in Intralot.

Intralot and Intracom were also widely criticized in the Romanian press for allegedly bribing Romanian officials to sign and renew contracts between Greek firms and the Romanian lottery, which were completely unprofitable for the Romanian side, with a total loss of up to 1 billion euros as of April 2014 of the year.

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