Winner of Parád Kristály bid fails to produce purchase price

The bid was the only one received for Parád Kristály, bailiff Mátra Holding Zrt said in September. It was the fourth time the company had been offered for sale. The guideline price for the company was set at Ft 144 million, well under the Ft 318.5 million guideline price when the company was first offered for sale in June. Parád Kristály, which exports 70% of its products to the US and Japan, has been hurt by the weak dollar. It ended 2004 with losses of Ft 200 million on sales of Ft 1 billion. The company went under liquidation at the start of 2005. A tender was called in July, but none of the bidders met the asking price of Ft 318.5 million and the sale was scrapped. At the second tender in October, the bailiff announced no asking price. Kristály Manufaktura Parád 1708 Export-Import, a company set up by private Hungarian investors to buy Parád, submitted the best offer in the tender, but failed to produce the purchase price, even after making a 10% deposit. At the third tender, the only bidder failed to meet certain conditions and the sale was scrapped. Production at Parád Kristály's factory, which employed 380 people, was shut down in August. The company's debts total Ft 300 million. (Mti-Eco)