Austrian Duropack has announced a takeover bid offering 500 kuna per share of Belišće. The price at which Duropack was obliged to make the offer is 450 kuna, as this is the highest price at which it acquired shares of Belišće in the one-year period prior to the obligation’s inception.
Investment circles expected a higher premium of 50 kuna per share, so it remains to be seen how pension funds and the Capital Fund, as larger shareholders, will react to the offer from the Austrian manufacturer. The obligation for a public offer for Duropack arose in February of this year when it acquired 23,000 shares of Belišće from the Italian Eurocart, thereby obtaining a 26.7 percent stake in the share capital. Duropack entered ownership of Belišće two years ago by purchasing a 20 percent stake from IFC, paying 925 kuna for each share at that time. By acquiring Belišće, led by Vlado Jerbić, Austrian Duropack would become the strongest player in the paper industry in Southeast Europe, as the Slavonian company is the majority owner of the Koprivnica company Bilokalnik-Ipa, Zagreb’s Unijapapir, Macedonia’s Komuna, Serbia’s Inos, and Slovenia’s Valkarton. Belišće is one of Duropack’s most important paper suppliers, and through this acquisition, Duropack secures the supply of raw materials for its plants in Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Serbia, and Bulgaria. Duropack operates within the Austrian Constantia Packaging group, where, due to financial difficulties it encountered, the majority stake was taken over by One Equity Partners fund. OEP manages $8 billion in investments for American JPMorgan Chase & Co. in direct private equity transactions. (M. B.)
