The first private medical school in Athens has been approved by Greece’s Competition Committee. The school is in cooperation of a newly established company based in Cyprus and the CVC Capital Partners, the Luxembourg-based private equity and investment advisory Corporate Venture Capital that has bought several companies in the country.
The Competition Commission announced on Friday afternoon that it approved a request for a company whose statutory purpose is the establishment and operation of a private Medical School in Athens.
The announcement of the Competition Commission stated that this is the company under incorporation “University of Nicosia Greece Branch Medical Limited”.
The Competition Commission approved the merger that “relates to the acquisition of joint control by the company with the name HELLENIC HEALTHCARE HOLDING 3 (CYPRUS) LIMITED and the private law organization with the name “P.L. University of Nicosia” on (a) the company under establishment with the name University of Nicosia Greece Branch Medical Limited and (b) the existing company with the name VANES Limited” the announcement stated.
Among others, the statement noted that partner HH3 holding based on Cyprus belongs to the CVC network which is active in Greece in many sectors, including health, e-commerce, food and insurance.”
The under establishment “University of Nicosia Greece Branch Medical Limited” has as its statutory purpose the establishment and operation of a Medical School in Athens, a service which will be provided within the framework of Law 5094/2024, after obtaining the necessary administrative licenses from the competent bodies.
Second partner is the University of Nicosia,based in Cyprus and controlled by the limited liability company with the name “EDEX Educational Excellence Corporation Ltd”.
The under establishment “University of Nicosia Greece Branch Medical Limited” has as its statutory purpose the establishment and operation of a Medical School in Athens, a service which will be provided within the framework of Law 5094/2024, after obtaining the necessary administrative licenses from the competent bodies. “VANES Limited” is active in the market of real estate services.
The under establishment “University of Nicosia Greece Branch Medical Limited” has as its statutory purpose the establishment and operation of a Medical School in Athens, a service which will be provided within the framework of Law 5094/2024, after obtaining the necessary administrative licenses from the competent bodies.
“VANES Limited” is active in the market of real estate services.
The CC considered that the concentration in question does not cause anti-competitive horizontal and vertical effects, nor does it have as its object or result the coordination of the competitive behavior of the parent companies, media reported.
PS The usual mean Greeks who oppose private universities in the country look with suspicion a “Private Medical School” fearing inadequate and shorter education for wanna-be professionals who will pay to fulfill their or their parents’ “dream” and begin their studies with lower entrance criteria than in public universities.
Some of them wonder how can two profit oriented corporate companies establish a non-profit university, as the Greek government claims.
Others recall that CVC, that have bought half of Greece’s big companies in the last couple of year, is PM Mitsotakis’ favorite fund and that his daughter have been working in the company since 2021.
While many questions such as annual fees, studies duration, internship etc remain open, some other mean Greeks wish to have died before those doctors finish school.
KTG – you often used the expression “usual mean Greeks” – I don’t understand what that means, please would you explain.