June 21 (SeeNews) - Bulgarian sugar and confectionery trader Zahar Invest submitted a tender offer to acquire the 5.929% stake it does not already own in its subsidiary, sugar and ethanol producer Zaharni Zavodi [BUL:ZHZA], the target company said.
Zahar Invest, which holds some 10.45 million shares in Zaharni Zavodi, representing a 94.071% stake, is seeking to buy the remaining 658,848 shares at 5.15 levs ($2.88/2.63 euro) apiece, the sugar and ethanol producer said in a bourse filing on Tuesday.
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The offered price is slightly above Zaharni Zavodi's current fair price per share of 5.145 levs and is higher than the six-month weighted average market price of 4.7415 levs per share.
The proposal, worth some 3.39 million levs, values the entire company at about 57.23 million levs based on the number of outstanding shares.
The bid will remain open for 28 days, starting June 21.
Zahar Invest said it plans to take Zaharni Zavodi private and stop trading its shares on the Sofia bourse as it complicates the company's administrative service and the focus of its management and shareholders on operations.
With the deal, the bidder aims to enhance Zaharni Zavodi’s competitive position in existing markets and expand into new markets, while ensuring more efficient management through integrated management systems. The company’s strategy also focuses on improving profitability through cost reduction, adopting energy-efficient and automated technologies and optimising asset utilisation.
In April, Zaharni Zavodi reported a standalone net loss of some 1.1 million levs for the first quarter of 2023 on revenue of 20.1 million levs.
As of 1350 CET on Wednesday, shares in Zaharni Zavodi traded 4.26% higher at 4.90 levs on the BaSE market of the Bulgarian Stock Exchange.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)