Private acquirer · Athens
Athina Capital is a private acquirer based in Athens. Our approach is long-term ownership, and we acquire as principal rather than as a broker or an intermediary.
Checking us before replying is the right instinct.
Direct buyer
We acquire as principal, not as an intermediary.
No broker commission
No listing agreement and no success fee.
Confidential
Nothing listed, nothing advertised.
Flexible handover
A few weeks or a year. You decide.
Why you were contacted
If an email from Athina Capital brought you here, your company has characteristics we look for in established businesses. Nobody told us your business is for sale, and we are not assuming you want to sell. You may not be selling at all, and that is a normal outcome. If you would rather not hear from us again, reply and say so, and that is the end of it.
The person who reads your message is the person who decides. There is no client behind us to persuade and no committee to approve it.
You are speaking directly with the prospective acquirer. Athina Capital does not charge the seller a brokerage or success fee. You would normally still have your own legal and accounting costs, and those go to your advisers, not to us.
Nothing is advertised or listed, and we approach nobody connected to your business.
A conversation can move quickly, or it can sit for a year while an owner thinks.
What we acquire
We look for businesses that already work: a trading history that can be read in the accounts, customers who come back, and profits that are actually there. We are not assembling a portfolio to sell on in three years.
Profitable, independent companies where the owner is still closely involved. What the business does matters less to us than how it holds together: repeat customers, a real record rather than a projection, and a reason it has lasted this long.
If the company owns its building, or you own it personally and lease it to the company, that is straightforward for us and can be an advantage. We can look at the business and the property together, or at either one on its own.
Startups and pre-revenue companies. Businesses that need rescuing or a turnaround. Companies valued mainly on projections rather than an established trading history. Minority stakes. And competitive auctions with a room full of bidders, which is a sensible way to sell a company and not the way we buy one. If that is where you are, we will say so early rather than late.
Acquisition criteria
Not every business will be a fit, and we would rather say so early than late. If you recognise your business here, it is worth a message.
These are guidelines rather than rigid rules. If your business misses one of them and fits the rest, write anyway and we will tell you honestly.
Who you are dealing with
Athina Capital is a private acquirer based in Athens. We are not private equity, we are not an investment bank and we are not a broker.
Principal
His approach is rooted in a practical understanding of business rather than financial engineering. He is interested in companies that already do something well: businesses with real customers, established teams, proven demand and owners who have spent years building something worth preserving.
His interest extends beyond simply completing an acquisition. He looks at how a business operates, where it can be strengthened, how technology and better systems can improve performance, and how a transition can work for both the outgoing owner and the company they leave behind.
Athina Capital was created around a straightforward idea: deal directly with business owners, be clear about what is and is not a fit, and take a long-term view.
How it works
A short message is enough: what the business does, roughly how big it is, and what is prompting you to think about a transition.
We aim to give you an initial answer within a few days. A no is a no, with a reason, and it is the end of it. We will not keep coming back.
Accounts, leases, the things that matter. Handled quietly. Nothing goes to staff, customers or suppliers.
Including the structure of the transaction and how much of a handover you want, in writing and early enough for your own advisers to read. That can be a few weeks or a year. Either is fine.
You do not owe us a reason for stopping.
Our approach
We are interested in businesses that already work. Our starting point is to understand what makes a company successful and preserve those strengths where it makes sense. We are not looking for businesses simply to dismantle them.
Our general intention is to support continuity: the people, the customer relationships and the things the business is already good at. What we will not do is decide on a website how your company will be run before we have properly understood it.
Anything specific about your employees, your management, the name over the door or your own future involvement is a deal-specific matter. We would discuss it, agree it, and put what we agree into the documents you sign. We would rather be judged on what we sign than on what we promised.
Also
Property is a secondary activity for us. We acquire commercial and mixed-use buildings, preferably directly from the owner, for long-term ownership. If you own both a business and the building it operates from, we can look at both.
Questions
No. We are the buyer, not an intermediary looking for a mandate. If you would rather use a broker, that is a perfectly reasonable choice and we are not the right people.
No, at any stage. We are the buyer, so there is no brokerage or success fee from us. Your own lawyer and accountant are a separate cost, and that money goes to them rather than to us.
Not to talk to us. But you should have your own lawyer, and your accountant, before you sign anything. That is not politeness. Someone selling a company they spent thirty years building should have a person in their corner reading the documents.
No. You do not need to have a valuation before speaking to us. We are not going to ask you to name a price in a first email. If we get as far as a number, we will explain how we arrived at it and you can take it to your own accountant and take it apart.
Very little. What the business does, roughly where it is, roughly how big it is, how long it has been running, and what is prompting you to think about a transition. A few sentences is enough for us to tell you whether it is worth a conversation. Accounts and anything sensitive come later, and only if we both want to continue.
Not from us. We do not contact your staff, your customers, your suppliers or your landlord, and we do not list your business anywhere. You decide when the time is right to speak to your team.
No, and there is no wrong time to write. A conversation like this can start a year or two before anything happens, and it may not go anywhere at all. Either is a normal outcome. You are not committing to anything by sending a message.
You get a reason rather than a form letter, and then we stop.
No. The handover is part of what we are buying. That can be a few weeks, or a year to train whoever takes over. We would rather you stayed long enough to hand it over properly.
Not permanently, and not to a fixed template. We would agree a handover that suits the business, whether that is a few weeks or a year, and write it down. What we would not do is buy a business that depends entirely on you and then expect you to disappear on completion.
We are interested in businesses because of how they work, and the people are most of that. Our general intention is continuity, and that your team hears about a sale from you rather than from a rumour. We are not going to give you a guarantee on a website that no buyer can honestly give before understanding a business properly. Whatever we agree about your people would go into the documents.
We acquire as principal, and more than one structure can work: a purchase of the shares, or of the business and its assets, with the timing and the shape of the consideration agreed between us. We will not quote a completion date before we have seen anything. We will put the structure we are proposing in writing, early enough for your own advisers to look at it properly.
In confidence
You do not need to prepare anything before contacting us. A few details about the business are enough. One message from you, one honest answer from us.
Or write directly to info@athinacapital.org
We read everything ourselves. If your business is not a fit we will tell you.