Delisted in 2004, "Promex" could return on the Stock Exchange

• The management of "Uzinsider" intends to list Promex Brăila on the BSE

• The company was delisted from the Rasdaq six years ago

• "Uzinsider" is looking for a foreign investor

The management of "Uzinsider", one of the biggest domestic exporters of industrial equipment, is considering listing "Promex" Brăila on the stock exchange, after Promex was delisted from the Rasdaq market more than six years ago.

"We would like to list < Promex > Brăila on the stock exchange", said Constantin Savu, the CEO of the "Uzinsider" Group, in an interview for BURSA.

The company was previously listed on the Rasdaq tier until 2004, when "Uzinsider" was forced to perform a public takeover bid and delist the company due to the legal requirements of the legislation in effect at the time.

The "Uzinsider" group already has three companies listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange: "Comelf" Bistriţa (symbol:CMF), "24 Ianuarie" Ploieşti (symbol:IANY) and "The Technical Design Institute Uzinsider Engineering" Galaţi (symbol:ICPM), with the latter two listed on the Rasdaq market.

Constantin Savu said: "Some people say having a company listed on the stock exchange is bad, other say it"s a good thing... We control companies that are listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange and on the Rasdaq tier, but we also have private companies, so we know the benefits and drawbacks of each type. In my opinion the stock market needs to begin serving its true purpose and attracting investor interest, and serious companies need to be listed for their market value to be acknowledged, as soon as possible."

The head of "Uzinsider" admits that this period is not really favorable for a flotation, as the companies of the Group are feeling the effects of the economic crisis.

"We can not list Promex right now, because it wouldn"t be beneficial for us because of the economic difficulties it is facing, as opposed to two years ago, when it was in full swing. However, we hope to succeed in getting more contracts which would help our companies get back to work, which would obviously improve things for < Promex > as well", Constantin Savu said.

He said that he considered floating Promex a few years ago, but then gave up on the idea and opted instead to focus on the development of the company as the economy was booming at the time: "As you know, listing a company is a lengthy process..., we thought about it some time ago, but we put it off because the company was doing great, we didn"t need additional capital... However, lately we felt the need to get additional funding, to go out on the market, to be more open to investors."

Nicolae Gherguş, the general manager of brokerage firm "Confident Invest", said for "Bursa", that he was contacted by the management of "Uzinsider" in order to study whether a bond or stock issue was opportune: "< Uzinsider > officials contacted us one month ago and promised they would deliver the initial required documentation, such as the financial statements of < Promex > Brăila for the last two years, and now we are reviewing the most adequate financing method, considering the uncertain economic context of the financial markets. We have not yet decided whether to issue bonds or stocks.

It would be inaccurate to say that the company would be taken public, since it was already listed before. < Promex > was delisted after < Uzinsider > increased its stake in the company to 95%, and as a result was required to delist the company due to the provisions of the Decree no. 229 which regulated the stock market between 2002 and 2004. According to the provisions of the Decree, delisting the company under those circumstances was mandatory, not simply optional."

• "Uzinsider" looking for foreign investors

Constantin Savu, the head of "Uzinsider", said that the company has begun looking for a foreign investor willing to acquire stakes in the group"s companies. The move represents a significant change of stance for the management of "Uzinsider", as the CEO said that it had previously turned down several bids, claiming that "Uzinsider" and the companies in the Group would do fine with the shareholder structure they had at the time. He explained: "We thought that we were capable of facing competition by ourselves, but now we are looking for a partner to ensure sustainable and rapid growth. It could be a company that you can have a long term collaboration contract, which would fill a consistent chunk of our output capacity. Another alternative could be a company that is looking to acquire stakes in companies of the "Uzinsider" group, which can provide additional "know-how" or technology. We are not looking for Romanian investors because a potential foreign investor would have the benefit of providing us with additional market share. We would be interested in a complex partnership for the production of equipment for the energy sector, metallurgy, shipbuilding, cement factories, environment, machinery production, which are sectors for which domestic demand remains weak."

Constantin Savu said he was contacted by several potential investors, but for now, talks concerning the sale of stock in companies in the group are still at an incipient stage.

"We were contacted by companies that operate in the same sectors as ours, with which we had long term partnerships", said the head of "Uzinsider".

The "Uzinsider" group was created in 1992, and now includes three heavy machinery factories, a technical design institute, a trading firm and a company which handles contracting large scale projects.