Duropack Announces Offers to Acquire Belišće, Bilokalnik-IPA, and Unijapapir

The company Duropack from Vienna has announced an offer to acquire Belišće at a price of 500 kuna per share, as well as offers to acquire Bilokalnik-IPA at a price of 90 kuna per share and Unijapapir at a price of 1,690 kuna.

The obligation to acquire the three companies for Duropack arose on February 23 when this Austrian company, based on a Share Purchase Agreement concluded with Eurocart S.R.L., acquired 23,148 shares of Belišće. Thus, considering that it previously held 287,885 shares of Belišće, Duropack has acquired a total of 311,033 shares of Belišće, representing 26.71 percent of the share capital and giving 26.96 percent of the votes from the total number of votes provided by the shares of Belišće with voting rights. By gaining control over Belišće, a joint relationship has arisen between Duropack and Belišće, and since Belišće owns 60.80 percent of the shares of Bilokalnik-IPA and 74.58 percent of the shares of Unijapapir, Duropack has indirectly acquired those shares of the two companies, thus creating an obligation to announce an offer for their acquisition as well. Duropack states in the offer for the acquisition of Belišće that the financial and economic crisis over the past two years has seriously affected the Southeast European region, with the packaging industry being among the hardest hit.

Belišće, as a leading company in the paper and corrugated cardboard production industry in Southeast Europe, has been severely impacted, suffering a decline in sales and revenue, reduced utilization, and increased borrowing costs, as stated in the offer. Duropack, with its position in the markets of Central, Southern, and Eastern Europe, is strategically well-positioned to support Belišće and contribute to its future growth in economic sustainability, as emphasized in the offer, highlighting that Duropack aims to expand and strengthen business relations between the two companies, as well as their competitiveness, through increased sales in an still challenging market environment. Duropack announces that future investments and expansions will be directed towards new markets as well as improving the company’s position in the overall value chain. In order to consolidate Belišće and reduce the level of relative indebtedness, Duropack intends to propose an increase in share capital of up to 20 million euros at the upcoming general assembly.

Duropack intends to fully participate in this capital increase, as stated in the offer, adding that Duropack intends to support the retention of future profits to repay obligations and reduce the level of Belišće’s indebtedness. Over the coming years, these two measures, as stated, can significantly improve the level of relative indebtedness of Belišće and, together with a stronger balance sheet, help secure the necessary funds for further modernization and expansion of operations. In the offers for the acquisition of Bilokalnik-IPA and Unijapapir, it is also stated that Duropack, by increasing its stake in Belišće, as well as in Bilokalnik-IPA and Unijapapir, aims to expand and strengthen business relations between the companies and their competitiveness, as it intends to maintain the role of these two companies within the Belišće group and continue the existing business strategy and policy. In the offers for all three companies, Duropack also states that it plans to rely on the existing management and workforce in Belišće, Bilokalnik-IPA, and Unijapapir, as it does not expect significant changes in employment policy and the labor status of workers, nor does it expect significant changes regarding the locations where the companies operate, if overall macroeconomic and business trends permit. (H)