Austrian company "Herz Armaturen" to make a public takeover bid for "Armătura" Cluj-Napoca

Austrian firm "Herz Armaturen" will perform a takeover bid for the equipment and fittings maker "Armătura" Cluj-Napoca (ARM), after increasing its stake to over 33%.

"We have filed the required documentation with the intermediary authorized by the Romanian National Securities Commission (CNVM). We think that within two weeks, the brief will be submitted to the CNVM which will approve it, thus allowing the public takeover bid to go ahead. The Commission will also set the deadline by which the public takeover bid will take place", Todor Gaziuc, member of the Board of Directors of "Armătura" said on Friday, in a press conference, as quoted by Mediafax.

Gerhard Glinzerer, the chairman of the Board of Directors of "Herz Armaturen", said that the Austrian company would continue to invest in "Armătura".

The company borrowed five million Euros from "Herz Armaturen", in order to pay off its debts and to finance its day-to-day operations.

"After giving this loan, we will invest around 800,000 Euros in new, efficient machinery, and further investments are planned. We made the takeover bid because we were required to, due to exceeding the 33% stake, but we are also looking to stabilize the price of the stock. We will continue to invest in the company in the future, and for that we need the price of the stock to be at least at par. The current price is below the par value", Glinzerer said.

The par value of "Armătura" stock is 0.5 lei.

Another significant shareholder of the company is Tridelta Heal Beteiligungsgesellschaft Luxembourg, which owns 16.76%.

The revenues of the installation maker dropped 42.8% in 2009, from 34.3 million lei to 19.6 million lei, while expenses decreased 38.5%, from 35.3 million lei to 21.7 million lei. C.P.