LJUBLJANA (Slovenia), January 11 (SeeNews) – In order to complete the purchase of 92% of Slovenian car parts maker Cimos Group, Italy's TCH Cogeme, a unit of investment firm Palladio Holding Group, is seeking a state guarantee for the payment of outstanding debt owed by Cimos to a Croatian bank, Slovenian media reported on Wednesday.
Cimos owes money to the Croatian agency for deposit insurance and bank resolution (DAB) after almost 15 years ago the company took out a 15 million euro loan from Rijecka banka, which later ceased to exist. DAB, which took over the claims of the failed bank, has lodged a lawsuit demanding some 57 milion euro ($60 million euro) in compensation from Cimos, news portal dnevnik.si reported.
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DAB has so far rejected two out-of-court settlement proposals put forward by the Italian buyer.
The only remaining option is for the Slovenian state to guarantee it will pay the compensation in case the court in Croatia rules in favour of DAB, Dnevnik believes.
There are fears that if Cimos is ordered to pay back the money the company will go bankrupt even before the sale to the Italian buyer is concluded.
The deadline set by the Italian buyer for the state to react reportedly expires at the end of this month. If Slovenia refuses the deal, the Italian company will withdraw from the sale agreement.
In October, Slovenia's bad bank DUTB said Slovenia has sold a 92% stake in Cimos Group to TCH Cogeme for 110 million euro.
DUTB admitted at the time that aside from regulatory approval, the deal also hinges on an agreement with the Croatian agency for deposit insurance and bank resolution due to Cimos' outstanding debt.
The sellers are DUTB with a 47.5% share, the Slovenian government with a 24.26% stake and lenders NLB with 9.44%, Gorenjska Banka with 5.74%, Abanka Vipa with 2.42%, Nova KBM with 2.2% and SID Banka with 0.74%. They gained their shareholding interest in Cimos following a 168 million euro debt-to-equity conversion in 2014.
Privatisation is the last step in a long process towards Cimos' stabilisation, DUTB noted in October.
The Koper-headquartered group manufactures mainly turbo compressor and turbine housings, power train components, chassis and car-body parts. Cimos has a production footprint in four countries across Southeast Europe.
($=0.949791 euro)