Croatian investor sells 10% stake in Serbian toolmaker Woksal

The transaction included the sale of 24,270 Woksal shares, Kustreba said in a bourse filing on Thursday.

According to bourse data, two block trades with 12,135 Woksal shares each took place on March 19. The stocks changed hands at 195 dinars in both transaction, bringing the combined value of the two deals to 4.7 million dinars ($46,320/42,660 euro).

In February, Kustreba's holdings fell to 9.99% from some 25% after he sold part of his Woksal shares to Slovenian businessman Rok Slibar. As a result, Slibar's stake in Woksal rose to 23.69% from 8.97%.

Serbia's state equity fund is the largest single shareholder in Woksal with a 26.73% stake, followed by Kragujevac-based Style Metal Corp with 24.98%, Rok Slibar with 23.69%, and the state pension fund PIO with 9.99%, data from the central securities depositary and clearing house showed on March 22. The remainder belongs to smaller shareholders.

Woksal's equity capital is divided into 242,747 shares of 60 dinars in par value each. The company was founded in 1965 under the name Tvrdi Metal. It was renamed to Woksal in 2005.

Woksal specialises in the production of cemented carbide cutting tools for machine processing and the mining industry, and tools for special applications. The company says on its website that its installed capacities allow it to produce 1,000 tonnes of cemented carbide annually. It employs 50 people on a business area of 5,800 square metres in the western town of Uzice.

Woksal is export-oriented. It sells 70% of its output to EU markets such as Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria, as well as to South Africa, Russia, Turkey, Canada, Taiwan, and neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina, among others.

(1 euro = 117.214)