"The name METKA is withdrawn from the Athens Stock Exchange today, but remains closely related with Mytilineos Group and has not yet completed its cycle," Evangelos Mytilineos, chairman and CEO of the Group said on Friday.

In a statement, on the finalization of a merger deal between Mytilineos SA and METKA, Mytilineos said: "Exactly 20 years ago, in the summer of 1997, with the support of the distinguished broker Spyros Bellos, the first big hostile takeover of a listed company by another listed company was designed and executed successfully in the Athens Stock Exchange. Mytilineos SA, which was listed in the market in 1995, completed the takeover of METKA (listed in 1972) in December 1998. Giannis Mytilineos took over at the helm of METKA and created one of the most authentic success stories in the modern history of the Greek economy. METKA is now 13 bigger in turnover compared with 1998 and 29 times larger in profitability and employs twice the number of workers, mostly engineers. All these years, METKA, the jewel of the Group as I used to call it, raised the Greek flag in 29 different countries and markets and as a result it ranked in the top 10 of EPC companies in the energy sector worldwide in 2011."

Mytilineos said he expected METKA, now as a business unit of Mytilineos Group, to continue its dynamic course abroad.

METKA's shareholders approved a merger plan with Mytilineos Group during a general shareholders' meeting in June. The dynamism of the new group, officially formed on Friday, was confirmed with the success of the biggest Greek corporate bond, worth 300 million euros, 10 days ago.