Pantyhose producer Apollo Bucuresti plans to take over 24 percent of Ciorapi Timisoara, as part of its long-term development strategy, but employees of the Timisoara plant announced, in response, the splitting of the company. Apollo Bucuresti, a company that is listed on Rasdaq, is ready to pay 1,675 lei per one share of Ciorapi Timisoara, a price that is four times higher than the quotation of the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB).
The company's employees convened the general extraordinary assembly (AGA) of Ciorapi Timisoara with the intention to divide the company into two smaller companies, a fact that places Apollo in a difficult situation, since it does not know what shares to take over in fact from SOF. Apollo Bucuresti representatives deem AGA convening as non-statutory, because the constitutive document of the company specifies that the extraordinary assembly of shareholders can only be convened at the request of a third of shareholders or at the request of censors. "Moreover, no division plan was made available so that shareholders could make a decision," Andrea Cattaneo Della Volta, Apollo chairman, told Ziarul Financiar.
The shareholding structure of Ciorapi Timisoara includes the Employees Association Programme with a stake of 40 percent, the State Ownership Fund with 23.92 percent, a stake for which SOF signed a sale stake to Apollo. "SOF sold in 1999 only 30 percent of the total stock held by the shareholders association of Ciorapi Timisoara and for it to increase its weight within the share capital, it had to launch a public buying offer, in line with legal stipulations," says Cristian Tudoran, Apollo's financial director.
The management of the Timisoara-based company declined commenting on this situation, but sources within the company stated that the AGA convened for Wednesday was no longer held due to the lack of quorum. During the AGA that was to be held yesterday, a decision was to be made as concerns splitting. This was possible since yesterday's AGA was to be held irrespective of quorum, since it was the second convening.
Ciorapi Timisoara in 1999 registered net profit worth 1.02 billion lei, against turnover standing at 49.7 billion lei. The dividend to be distributed this year for activity of 1999 was settled at 197 lei per share. In 1998, the company registered losses amounting to 1.5 billion lei, turnover posted during the same period coming to 32.1 billion lei. Ciorapi Timisoara has been listed on BVB since August 7, 1998, a period during which the price varied between the minimum of 196 lei per share and 861 lei per share. The last transaction took place on May 18, when 100 shares were transferred at a price of 413 lei per share.
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