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IPO of Veterina Begins on October 1

To citizens, employees, and institutional investors, Željko Čović, CEO of Pliva, stated that up to 100 percent of Veterina’s shares will be sold through a public offering, with the deadline for submitting purchase offers starting on the first and lasting until October 5.

The pharmaceutical company Pliva presented today at a press conference the details regarding the public offering of the company Veterina, which Pliva separated into a standalone company seven years ago. The price range for the shares is between 80 and 100 kuna per share, and the sale price will be determined on October 5, after the conclusion of the book of offers in the Preferred and Non-Preferred offerings. Upon completion of the public offering, Veterina’s shares will be listed on the First Listing of the Zagreb Stock Exchange under the symbol VERN-R-A.
Considering that 1,844,860 shares are going into the IPO, the total value of this transaction will amount to between 147 and 184 million kuna, which is less than Veterina’s annual sales.

In fact, Veterina had approximately 189 million kuna in revenue in 2006, but with low profitability, at a level of four to five percent of revenue. The CEO of Pliva did not wish to provide any forecasts regarding how the sale of Veterina would affect Pliva’s business results, and he was quite reserved in his comments regarding the preferential purchase conditions for Veterina employees. He only stated that Veterina employees would be able to purchase up to 276,729 shares with preemptive rights, and that the management of Veterina would receive a discount on their purchases.

When asked by journalists why Pliva opted for an IPO instead of selling to a strategic partner, with whom it had negotiated with several firms, Čović responded that the offers from strategic partners did not ensure a better future for Veterina and that he believes the decision to go for an IPO is good for two reasons – the fact that Veterina has stable operations and that there is significant interest in quality shares on the stock exchange.

At the press conference, data on Veterina’s operations was also presented. Alongside Croatia, where it has a market share of 53 percent in the veterinary products segment, key markets for Veterina include Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, and Poland, and the company plans to focus more on Serbia, Iran, and Ukraine. Veterina currently exports its products to 30 countries worldwide, has 160 products in 400 forms, the total assets of the company amount to 264 million kuna, and the equity capital is 184 million kuna. (Antonija Knežević