Bulgaria's Zahar Invest launches buyout bid for Zaharni Zavodi

Zahar Invest, which owns a 94.071% stake in Zaharni Zavodi, or some 10.45 million shares, is seeking to purchase the remaining 658,848 shares at 6.30 levs ($3.50/3.22 euro) each, the sugar and ethanol producer said in a stock exchange filing on Tuesday.

The offered price is higher than Zaharni Zavodi's current fair price per share of 6.292 levs and its six-month weighted average market price of 5.90 levs per share.

The bid, totalling some 4.15 million levs, values the company at about 70 million levs based on the number of its outstanding shares. It will remain open for 28 days, starting January 24.

Last August, Bulgaria's financial regulator issued a definitive ban on the filing of a revised offer for the takeover of Zaharni Zavodi by Zahar Invest, saying the tender does not meet the requirements of the relevant legislation and harms the interests of the target company's minority shareholders. Earlier, Zahar Invest had raised to 6.29 levs per share from 5.15 levs per share its proposal to acquire the 5.929% stake in the sugar and ethanol producer.

The bidder said it intends to delist Zaharni Zavodi from the Bulgarian Stock Exchange as being a public company complicates the administrative service and the focus of its management and shareholders on operations.

However, Zahar Invest does not expect any changes to the two companies' main activities and financial strategy or an impact on their staff for three years following the acquisition.

Shares in Zaharni Zavodi last traded on January 16 when they closed at 5.90 levs on the BaSE market of the Bulgarian Stock Exchange, bourse data show.

(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)