Third Point invests in Energean oil in Greece

U.S. hedge fund Third Point has agreed to buy a stake in Energean Oil & Gas, a small Greek oil producer, for $60 mln, the latest in a series of foreign investments in the country since it narrowly avoided crashing out of the euro zone last year.
In October, Swiss retailer Dufry bought out the duty-free operations of Greek rival Folli Follie for 200.5 mln euros and on May 1, Czech-controlled Emma Delta fund agreed to buy a controlling stake in gaming monopoly OPAP for 652 mln euros.
Greece has been in Third Point's sights for months. The fund made big profits by trading deeply discounted Greek government bonds last year. It also submitted a bid to buy OPAP but was disqualified.
The Energean deal is made through the Hellenic Recovery Fund, a vehicle Third Point set up to invest in Greek assets.
"We believe that the opening of the Greek market for hydrocarbon exploration and production will significantly contribute towards economic recovery," Third Point founder Daniel Loeb said in the statement.
Athens plans to award oil and natural gas drilling licenses in 2014, hoping to find big offshore deposits that would reduce its dependency on imports.
The country produces almost no oil and natural gas of its own and spends about 5% of its annual output on energy imports.
Energean Oil is controlled by two individual shareholders. It said it will use the money to double its ongoing oil production in northern Greece to 4,000 bpd by the end of 2013 and to start developing a nearby oil field.