Lamda Development raises 650 million euro euros from rights issue

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's Lamda Development <LMDr.AT> raised 650 million euros (558 million pounds) via a rights issue to help finance part of a landmark project at Athens' former Hellenikon airport, it said on Tuesday.

Lamda, controlled by the Latsis family, announced the cash call in October to help fund a 8-billion-euro plan to turn Hellenikon, a sprawling site of disused runways, terminals and venues used for the Athens 2004 Olympics, into a complex of luxury homes, hotels, offices and a casino.

The equity sale was oversubscribed by 1.1 times with 99% of it covered by investors who exercised their preemptive rights, Lamda said in a bourse filing.

Lamda expects to spend about 2 billion euros in the first five years of an estimated 25-year construction phase to build two skyscrapers of offices and a hotel, about 800 residences and a park.

Last month Lamda announced it had reached an initial agreement with Eurobank <EURBr.AT> and Piraeus Bank <BOPr.AT> on the basic terms for a loan of up to 880 million euros as it prepares to start the project.

(Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou; editing by Jason Neely)