SARAJEVO (Bosnia and Herzegovina), November 25 (SeeNews) – Bosnian tobacco company Fabrika Duhana Sarajevo (FDS) said it supports the buyout bid launched by Austrian investment company CID Adriatic Investments GmbH (CID) for the 60.09% stake it does not already own in FDS.
The supervisory board and management at FDS have welcomed the bid and believe that the tobacco company will continue its operations under CID's management, FDS said in a filing with the Sarajevo bourse on Thursday.
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Mid-November, CID launched a buyout bid for the 770,234 shares it does not hold in FDS, offering to pay 83.5 marka ($45.3/42.7 euro) apiece, or a total of 64.3 million marka.
CID was legally bound to submit an offer for the remaining FDS shares after purchasing a 39.9% stake in FDS from the government for 42.7 million marka in September. CID's bid was deemed the most favourable at a bourse auction, after the company offered to pay 83.5 marka apiece for a total of 511,478 shares in FDS held by the government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The funds for the transaction were provided to CID by British American Tobacco (BAT), which, in a separate release, confirmed its involvement. BAT also said it will enter into exclusive negotiations with CID on the possible purchase of a part of FDS's tobacco business.
Last year, BAT purchased Croatian tobacco company Tvornica Duhana Rovinj (TDR) for 505 million euro ($536.4 million).
(1 euro= 1.95583 Bosnian marka)