Last Friday, Konzum Investment and Asset Management Nyrt. and Konzum Private Equity Fund together announced on the Budapest Stock Exchange (BÉT) website that they would acquire a 49.02% stake in Appeninn Holding. At the same time, the companies said they would make a mandatory purchase offer to Appeninn shareholders within the legally stipulated deadline.
The parties said Friday they would purchase 19,511,134 Appeninn shares with a face value of HUF 100 per share for an average price of HUF 228.9 per share. The announcement caused the share price to rise sharply. On Monday, Appeninn shares closed at HUF 330.
The purchase price offer of HUF 261 for the remaining shares of HUF 100 face value puts the value of the company at HUF 10.39 billion, according to stock exchange news site tozsdeforum.hu. With share capital of HUF 3.98 bln, Appeninn – which owns and operates office buildings and industrial and logistics properties worth more than HUF 22 bln – has its shares listed on the BÉT in the premium category.
The buyout offer is being made jointly by Konzum Investment and Asset Management Nyrt. (listed in the BÉTʼs standard category), Konzum Management Kft., Konzum Private Equity Fund and Konzum Investment Fund Management Zrt. The parties held a combined 33.6% of Appeninn at the time of making the offer.
The buyout offer must still be approved by the National Bank of Hungary (MNB).
Konzum Chairman-CEO Gellért Jászai said Friday that Konzum wants to consolidate its property investments in Appeninn and convert the company into a regulated property investment company (SZIT), the local form of a real estate investment trust (REIT), thereby benefiting from highly beneficial tax conditions.
The Konzum group is among the interests of controversial business magnate Lőrinc Mészáros, a close ally of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán whose wealth continues to grow spectacularly under the Fidesz-led government.
Producing journalism that is worthy of the name is a costly business. For over 30 years, the publishers, editors and reporters of the Budapest Business Journal have striven to bring you business news that works, information that you can trust, that is factual, accurate and presented without fear or favor.Newspaper organizations across the globe have struggled to find a business model that allows them to continue to excel, without compromising their ability to perform. Most recently, some have experimented with the idea of involving their most important stakeholders, their readers.
We would like to offer that same opportunity to our readers. We would like to invite you to help us deliver the quality business journalism you require. Hit our Support the BBJ button and you can choose the how much and how often you send us your contributions.
