November 25 (SeeNews) - Shares of Croatian confectionery producer Kras [ZSE:KRAS] plunged 30% in morning trading on the Zagreb Stock Exchange (ZSE) on Monday after local meat producer Braca Pivac said it has increased its stake in the company to 49.2% by acquiring 18.45% from Kras ESOP, ZSE data showed.
Kras' shares changed hands at 740 kuna ($110/96 euro) by 11:37 CET on the ZSE on Monday, down 29.52% from Friday's close, in a 2.0 million kuna turnover, according to trading data published by the ZSE.
On Saturday, Braca Pivac said it has signed a contract with Kras ESOP (a trust fund of Kras employees) for the transfer of the 276,441 Kras shares at 861.2 kuna ($128/116 euro) apiece, equal to the shares' average price on the ZSE in the past three months.
The transaction took place after on October 23 Braca Pivac launched a buyout bid for the remaining 69.27% in Kras it did not yet own, offering to pay 430 kuna per each Kras share. Following the launch of the bid, Kras management said it considered the offered price to be too low.
Prior to Monday's plunge, Kras' share price had been on the rise ever since Braca Pivac announced its takeover plan in early September, after which Cyprus-registered Kappa Star started to buy heavily into Kras. In several weeks, Kappa Star owned by Serbian businessman Nebojsa Saranovic acquired more than 20% shareholding interest in Kras.
According to November 25 ZSE data, Kappa Star's stake in Kras has already risen to 25.82% versus 30.73% held by Braca Pivac. The increase of Braca Pivac's stake following the acquisition of the shares held by Kras ESOP has not been registered yet, since it takes three days for a change in the ownership structure to show in the registry.
(1 euro = 7.43642 kuna)