The company that Andrea Pignataro founded will build its R&D and Innovation Campus in the area (but did not disclose how it will finance the project) and also buy 2% of Athens- listed vendor
ION, a global diversified financial, fintech and data management company that Andrea Pignataro founded, signed a binding agreement for acquiring selected tranches of land within The Ellinikon, a development project for the regeneration of Athens International Airport. The Ellinikon will become a last generation smart city and integrate sustainable modern residences, commercial and leisure centres, luxury hotels, cultural spaces, sports, education, business districts, and recreational facilities (press release).
Athens-listed leisure and real estate company LAMDA Development, a company of the Spiro Latsis Family fetched 450 million euros out of the sale of such plots of land. The vendor also owns The Mall Athens, Golden Hall, Designer Outlet Athens, Mediterranean Cosmos in Thessaloniki, strategic lands, and prime maritime assets such as Flisvos Marina, Agios Kosmas Marina, and Corfu’s mega-yacht Marina. ION will also buy a 2% of Lamda.
ION will build and complete by 2030 on the purchased land its R&D and Innovation Campus that will bring together some 2000 professionals from 44 countries. The total expected investments for this development could be worth above 1.5 billion euros. ION will build the Campus in two different sections with total gross building area of up to 250000 sqms (50% plots under leasehold) that will include at least 50000 sqms of executive and coworking spaces, an auditorium of 1000 seats for international events and up to 200000 sqms of residential assets for accommodating the company’s professionals.
With this strategic partnership starts the Ellinikon Business District, final component of the project masterplan, while making The Ellinikon an Europen AI and digitization hub and boosting the development of Athens area as a dynamic centre for investment, business, housing and trade.
Odisseas Athanasiou, the ceo of LAMDA Development, said: “This transaction of strategic significance confirms the rise of The Ellinikon as a world-class destination and investment hub, capable of attracting global partnerships and leading international investors. It also represents a new model for the cities of the future and a driver for Greece’s reputation on the global stage.”
Pignataro added: “The scale, infrastructure and vision of Ellinikon are in line with our ambition: to merge technology, culture and community into a prototype of the future of work and education, rooted in Greece, open to the world. We envision a campus that is part workplace, part education and part neighbourhood, turning Athens into a European beacon of technology and creativity”.
ION did not explain how it will finance the lands acquisition and the Campus development. Market participants speculate that the group may issue bonds.
X3G Mergeco, the vehicle through which ION acquired Italian credi servicer Prelios for 1.35 billion euros from Davidson Kempner (see here a previous post by BeBeez) recently refinanced with a 500 million senior secured bond part of the 600 million senior debt that UniCredit, Intesa Sanpaolo, BNP Paribas, Banco BPM, Standard Chartered Bank, and Mediobanca provided for such a buyout. In May 2025, X3G Mergeco issued a 360 million bond maturing in 2030 with a 7% coupon at a 92 Euro cents price (press release). In July 2025, the vehicle increased the issuance to a further 140 million for a 95.5 Euro cents price (press release). The bond received a BB rating from Fitch in light of expectations of a 3.7X gross debt to ebitda ratio at the end of 2025 (1.4X at the end of 2024).
ION also financed Prelios deal with the facilities that HPS Investment Partners (BlackRock) provided for sweeten its initial 750 million bid for the target and fullfill the bid – ask gap with Davidson Kempner’s expectations (see here a previous post by BeBeez).
In Aprile 2024, ION Group refinanced part of its liabilities through the senior secured issuance of a 500 million US Dollars 8.75% bond and an item of 300 million Euros 7.875% coupon (see here a previous post by BeBeez).
