Dumitru Tudor, an almost entirely unknown businessman, has become the principal shareholder of drug maker Biofarm Bucharest, following sustained acquisitions on the RASDAQ.
He now controls 11.2% in the company, a stake worth more than 5 million euros on the market.
Biofarm is the sixth largest Romanian drug maker in terms of market share.
Tudor''s fortune could be worth at least ten million euros, given that he has other investments on the capital market, including interests in the SIFs and the real estate market.
He told Ziarul Financiar that the acquisition of Biofarm shares was his personal investment, paid for with his own money. "I have been present on the Bucharest Stock Exchange for three years. I have businesses in other fields, too, and I have had a constant capital accumulation," Dumitru says.
He did not care to reveal what other fields he had invested in, nor the value of his properties and shares.
Tudor was not known as a significant shareholder in any company on the Bucharest Stock Exchange or RASDAQ until now, with most brokers on the market knowing little of him.
"I don''t know anything about him. I do not ask my clients what other businesses they have or where their money comes from," said a representative of a brokerage firm used by Tudor. Judging from information on the market, Tudor trades through some of the largest companies on the market, including ING Securities, Raiffeisen Capital & Investment, HTI Valori Mobiliare, BT Securities and BCR Securities.
Tudor could have a lot to say in how Biofarm is run, since the company''s shareholder structure is very scattered. The company posted 2.2 million euros in net profits in the first half of the year, a 100% increase on the same time in 2004. Total revenues amounted to some 7.4 million euros in the six months ended June 30, 2005.
The general meeting of shareholders for the election of a new board of directors is scheduled for early next month, which will see the businessman run for seat on the board.
"I have announced my candidacy for a seat on the Biofarm board, and I will request that the cumulative vote method be used," said Tudor.
He explained that he had a development plan in mind in order to grow the value of the company. "Biofarm''s value is probably not very far from the market price. The development of the company will create a higher value for Biofarm."
Cumulative voting means the level of shareholder representation on the company board is proportionate to the size of their stakes. An alliance of the SIFs would have meant a lack of cumulative voting, shutting the other shareholders out of the board of directors.
According to the latest data available on the market, Biofarm''s other shareholders include SIF Oltenia with 10.3%, SIF Moldova, with nearly 10%, and SIF Transilvania with 2%.
Tudor did not specify whether he intended to keep on buying Biofarm shares, saying a decision would be made depending on the market trend.
Biofarm is planning to float on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, and the businessman says he hopes the listing will translate into more liquidity for its shares. A liquidity increase can convince large investors to make the decision to buy.
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