Theocarakis Group Of Companies

The Theocarakis Group of Companies started with a small firm selling car accessories and liquid fuel established by Nicholas J. Theocarakis (b. 1898) in 1924 in Piraeus. Just before the outbreak of World War II, this small firm was to become the largest import company of automotive spare parts in Greece. In 1937 Nicholas Theocarakis established a factory for the production of car brakes and trims, but the war put an end to its operation. In the same period, he owned and operated a substantial fleet of buses.

Just after the war, he enters the car tire business and in 1957 he becomes the exclusive distributor for Greece of Yokohama Rubber Company. This led to the establishment in 1959 of the first joint stock company (Société Anonyme) of the Group, Theocarakis SA, the main business of which was the distribution of Yokohama tires.

A milestone of the group’s history was the year 1961, when Nicholas Theocarakis and his two sons, John and Basil, who were actively involved in the business from an early age, became the exclusive distributors of Nissan cars in Greece. They were, in fact, the first distributors of Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. in Europe. They created another Société Anonyme for the distribution of Nissan cars: Nic. J. Theocarakis S.A. This company was to become the flagship of the Group. In a few years, the exceptional reliability, the high quality and the competitive pricing of Nissan passenger cars and pickup trucks (marketed under the Datsun trademark at the time) made their impression on the Greek market and the name Nic. J. Theocarakis in Greece was to be inseparably linked with that of Nissan.

In 1976, Theocarakis Group founded Teo Shipping Corp., a shipping company, which today operates a fleet of modern bulk carriers and containers. In 1976 Teocar SA was established as a manufacturing unit of cargo beds for Nissan pickups in the location of the old brake factory in Athens. Teocar evolved into the major industrial company of the Group. In 1978, Teocar started the preparations for the erection of a car & pickup assembly plant in Volos’ Industrial Area.

1980 was a watershed in the Group’s history. John N. Theocarakis, age 50, Deputy Managing Director, passed away in January only to be followed by his father Nicholas in March. Basil N. Theocarakis, Deputy Managing Director at the time, assumed the leadership of the Group as the Chairman of the Board and Managing Director of the Group’s companies, a position which he still holds.

In February 1980 the first car rolled-off the plant’s assembly line. The plant remained in operation until 1995, when economic conditions in the car market have drastically changed. During that period, 170.000 cars and pickup trucks have been produced, consolidating the already successful presence of Nissan in the Greek car market putting it in the top position, for 14 consecutive years since 1979. Another company, Tecom SA, was established in 1982 in a plot of land adjacent to Teocar’s plant in Volos for the manufacture of car seats and metallic auto parts to be used by the assembly plant. Nowadays, Tecom specializes in the production of office furniture systems, car leather upholstery, aftermarket car seats and pickup cargo beds.

The Theocarakis Group is the distributor of a large number of products, apart from cars, light trucks and tires, which form the major distribution activity of the Group. They include:

• Nissan forklift trucks and industrial vehicles,
• Clarion car audio/visual systems,
• Daewoo and Beko household electrical appliances,
• Suzuki marine outboard motors,
• Same, Deutz- Fahr and Universal farming tractors,
• Merlo concrete cement mixers,
• Sonnenschein car batteries,
• Cromoruote alloy wheels,
• Wynn’s and Permatex specialty chemical products and lubricants.

A number of other products complete the list.
The Group through its company Teoroche SA, is the exclusive distributor for Greece of the Yves Rocher phytogenic cosmetics, while Teotec SA, established in 2001, is the Group’s venture in the field of high technology, information systems & telecommunications. Teodomi SA, a construction company, is active in the private and public sector with an impressive portfolio of works. In the automotive sector the Group includes in its members Praxis Lease, a long-term car fleet lease company since 1997 and Mega Drive SA, a used car management company.

The Theocarakis Group of Companies is also actively involved in mechanical parking systems since 1993. A mechanical parking of 231 parking stalls (Robopark) operated by Nic.J.Theocarakis SA was constructed in 1999 in the center of Athens. It installed and operated the parking management systems of two Greek airports and has constructed and installed mechanical parking systems in several locations all over Greece. In 2004, it has completed a project including the study, construction and installation of the world’s biggest underground mechanical parking system of 1,100 parking stalls in the YMCA premises in Thessaloniki. The parking lot is now fully operative.

The Theocarakis Group is among the founders and the major participant of Egnatia Bank since 1991, a middle size private commercial bank, which is listed in the Athens Stock Exchange. Basil N. Theocarakis is the bank’s Chairman of the Board since 1993. The Group has a stake in Hyatt Regency Hotel Corp., another company listed in the Athens Stock Exchange.