September 18 (SeeNews) - Polish company OT Logistics said on Monday it has signed a cooperation deal with two other shareholders of Croatian port operator Luka Rijeka [ZSE:LKRI], Croatian pension funds Allianz ZB and Erste Plavi, that will enable OT Logistics to operationally manage the Croatian port.
Allianz ZB and Erste Plavi control 15.15% and 8.85% of Luka Rijeka’s shares, respectively. Together with OT Logistics, they will control 56.56% of Luka Rijeka’s equity, the Polish company said in a statement.
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The partners will also control among themselves 56.61% of the voting rights of Luka Rijeka, the port operator said in a filing with the Zagreb Stock Exchange on Monday.
The cooperation agreement between the three shareholders has been signed for a period of seven years and sets out the conditions for cooperation in managing Luka Rijeka as well as in conducting a tender offer for its shares.
“Having increased our stake in Luka Rijeka and signed a partnership agreement with other shareholders, we are gaining real influence over the port’s operating activities," the CEO of OT Logistics, Zbigniew Nowik, said in the statement.
"Rijeka is a very important spot on Europe’s transport map. We believe that it can become a gateway for goods from northern Europe to pass through on their way to Africa, the Middle East and further to the Persian Gulf. We are sticking to our objective of increasing our stake in the Croatian company to 50% + one share,” Nowik added.
OT Logistics said last week it plans to launch a takeover bid for Luka Rijeka after it acquired an additional 11.75% stake in the port operator through a block deal on the Zagreb Stock Exchange. Following the acquisition, the shareholding interest of OT Logistics in Luka Rijeka has increased to 32.56%.
OT Logistics bought the 11.75% stake for 79.206 million kuna ($12.7 million/10.6 million euro) from the Croatian government. The transaction was financed with the proceeds of a 46.6 million zloty ($13 million/10.9 million euro) first tranche of a 125 million zloty credit facility extended to OT Logistics by Poland's state development bank BGK, the Polish company said on Thursday. The credit facility should be repaid by the end of 2023.
(1 euro = 7.47776 kuna)