PODGORICA (Montenegro), March 20 (SeeNews) – Montenegro's privatisation agency said it successfully completed talks on the sale of a 30% stake in port operator Luka Bar and 51% in rail cargo operator Montecargo to Polish company OT Logistics.
The sale price of the stake in Luka Bar was set at 8.52 million euro ($9.17 million), 20% higher than initially offered by OT Logistics, as the buyer agreed to invest 14 million euro in the port for a period of three years, the privatisation agency said in a statement on Friday.
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OT Logistics will also pay an annual concession fee of 500,000 euro to the Montenegrin government for the operation of Bar port, plus an additional payment depending on the port's revenue, the agency said.
The sale price of the 51% stake in Montecargo remained unchanged at 2.5 million euro but OT Logistics agreed to increase its investments in the company in the next three years to 3.45 million euro from 2.55 million euro offered initally, the privatisation agency pointed out.
Moreover, OT Logistics plans to lease two locomotives with a total value of 7 million euro.
OT Logistics committed to increase the minimum monthly wage of employees of Luka Bar and Montecargo to 140 euro and 150 euro, respectively, from 90 euro, in the next three years, the privatisation agency said.
In December, OT Logistics placed the sole bid in the tender for the privatisation of a 30% stake in Luka Bar. The Polish company offered 7.1 million euro plus a 17.1 million euro three-year investment programme for the acquisition of the stake.
A total of 17,030,021 state-owned shares in Luka Bar, with a nominal value of 1.2113 euro each, are up for sale. The majority owner of Luka Bar is the Montenegrin government with a stake of 54.05%.
In January, Montenegro said OT Logistics also placed the single binding bid in its tender for the sale of a 51% stake in Montecargo.
($ = 0.9292 euro)