Serbia Says Tender for Tractor Maker IMT Fails after Third-Ranked Bidder Walks Away

Considering the fact that the consortium of Belgrade-based MPC Properties and Italy’s Adriano Corsi had abandoned further negotiations on the sale of IMT, the Privatisation Agency decided on November 6 to declare the tender unsuccessful, the agency said in a statement.

Agri Investments offered to pay 76 million euro ($99 million) for 94.5% of the tractor manufacturer.

A consortium comprising Swiss-based Home Art & Sales Services, part of Zepter, and Slovenian company SIP Strojna Industruja, was ranked first in the tender with an offer to pay 121.1 million euro and invest a further 10.27 million euro but it failed to meet the payment deadline.

A consortium made up of British Virgin Islands-based Neverfield Limited and Polish Pol-Mot Warfarma was ranked second, offering to pay 109.3 million euro for IMT and invest a further 13 million euro in the Serbian company. It withdrew from the sale talks in July, saying IMT's negative financial results will harm Pol-Mot Warfarma's fresh listing on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

IMT extended its net loss to 4.173 million euro in 2005 from 666,000 euro a year earlier, the latest data from the asset-selling agency showed.

Belgrade-based IMT was set up in 1947. It was the first Yugoslav company to develop a tractor assembly line in 1955 and manufacture the country's first entirely domestically-produced tractor in 1964. Several minority shareholders own 5.5% of the company.

($=0.7736 euro)