September 28 (SeeNews) - Croatian drug maker Pliva, a subsidiary of U.S. Barr Pharmaceuticals, said on Friday it was offering for sale its non-core animal health and veterinary subsidiary Veterina.
Pliva announced today a public invitation to submit offers for the acquisition of ordinary shares of Veterina, the parent company said in a statement. As part of this process, Pliva will offer for sale all of the 1,844,860 ordinary shares to eligible Croatian citizens, Veterina employees and institutional investors.
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Veterina's employees will have the right to buy up to 276,729 of the shares under preferential terms. The shares are offered at a price range of 80 ($15.6/11 euro) to 100 kuna, while the final price will be set on October 5, when the deadline for submitting bids expires, Pliva said.
Potential buyers can start submitting their offers on October 1.
Following the offer period between October 1 and 5, Veterina shares are expected to be admitted to listing on the first tier of the Zagreb Stock Exchange (ZSE), while the settlement date is expected on 15 October 2007, Pliva said.
Commercial bank Raiffeisenbank Austria Zagreb (RBA) will be the manager of the listing of these shares on the ZSE.
Pliva's shares last traded on Tuesday, when they ended unchanged at 820 kuna.
Barr completed in October a $2.4 billion acquisition of some 92% of Pliva in a cash tender offer, and formed the world's third largest generic drugs company. Barr controls some 97% of Pliva's voting rights and has taken steps to buy the remaining shares.
(1 euro= 7.2875 Croatian kuna)