After almost one year of disputes, faced with the grim alternative of staying in a delisted company, the main three minority shareholders of Automobile Dacia - investment funds Broadhust and Romanian Investment Company (RIC) and broker Catalin Toderita - have accepted the offer made by French group Renault and sold their stakes in the Romanian carmaker.
Broadhurst used to hold 2.45% in Automobile Dacia, RIC - 1.77%, and Catalin Toderita owned 0.28% (directly and through his clients). They subscribed to the public takeover offer launched by Renault for 1,200 ROL/share.
The three shareholders, on one side, and Renault, on the other, had been engaged in fierce disputes regarding the price of the offer aimed to delist the company from the Bucharest Stock Exchange,
The battle was also fought at the lobbying level and led to the successive modification of the initial law that regulated the calculation method for the offer's price.
The stake was huge, since delisting could have cost Renault either 15 million dollars or 70 million dollars.
The offer was eventually worth 18.2 million dollars (1,200 ROL/share), while the minority shareholders did subscribe, although they were very vocal in their protests.
Even though the amounts cashed by Broadhurst ($6.1 million) and RIC ($4.5 million) seem rather big, both funds actually lost some money in the Automobile Dacia deal.
Broadhurst and RIC used to hold more than 10% in the Pitesti-based carmaker four years ago, but cut their participation following several capital increases operated by Renault. Broadhurst is managed by US company NCH Advisor, while RIC is handled by British firm Foreign & Colonial.
"The current information degree in our relation with Renault is minimal. In a closed company, risks also grow. It was never hard to suppose that the big, strategic investors couldn't care less about the Romanian securities market," says Cristian Andrei Siminel, Broadhurst manager.
"It was a long fight. Our fund is planning to get some cash in the next months and we have no business being the minority shareholders in a closed, delisted company. Consequently, we have no other option but to accept this offer," Harlan Zimmerman, former RIC manager, said several weeks ago, when the offer's price was announced.
"The price is not right, but I am not going to stay in a closed company," says Catalin Toderita, chairman of brokerage company Financial Investment.
Constantin Stroe, Automobile Dacia vice-president, would not comment on information regarding the offer.
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