October 3 (SeeNews) - A consortium of five Slovenian companies plans to place a buyout bid for 21.5% of local hardware goods retailer Merkur at a price of 405 euro ($574) per share, Merkur said on Wednesday.
The five companies own a combined stake of 78.5% in Merkur now. The biggest single shareholder among them is Merfin, a company set up by Merkur managers, with a 49.3% stake. The other four equity holders are rubber-to-tourism group Sava, commercial bank Banka Koper, investment company Interfin Nalozbe and Euro-Veneto.
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”In their takeover intent, the consortium of five major owners of Merkur obliged themselves to announce a public bid to acquire all Merkur shares at 405 euro per share within thirty days at the latest,” the company said in a statement.
Shares in Merkur, included in the broader index of the Ljubljana Stock Exchange, SBI20, gained 0.01% to an average price of 404.69 euro by 1040 GMT on Wednesday.
Merkur’s management board expects that the majority of its shareholders to accept the offer and for the consortium to own more than 90% at the end of 2007. ”If the takeover is successful, Merkur will be guaranteed independence in the long run,” the company said.
($ = 0.71 euro)