Another Company Leaves the Stock Exchange: Klara Withdraws After 23 Years

Zagrebačke pekarne Klara is preparing to withdraw its shares from the Zagreb Stock Exchange. The company’s management has called a General Assembly on September 30, where shareholders will decide on the withdrawal of all 283,760 ordinary shares from the Regular Market.

If the proposal is accepted, Klara will leave the stock exchange after more than 23 years. Its shares have been traded on the Zagreb Stock Exchange since June 2003.

The management and the Supervisory Board justify the proposal by stating that the company no longer derives significant benefits from listing and trading its shares, while the direct and indirect costs associated with stock exchange status represent a significant burden for the business.

– The company does not derive significant benefits from the listing of shares on the capital market nor from trading them. On the other hand, the costs associated with the listing are significant and represent a considerable burden under the company’s operating circumstances – the explanation states.

Share Buyback for Dissatisfied Shareholders

Klara has committed to buy back shares from shareholders who vote against the withdrawal from the stock exchange at the General Assembly. They must submit a buyback request no later than two months after the decision is registered in the court register, and the company must pay them for the shares within three months of registration.

The fair compensation will generally correspond to the weighted average stock market price of the share achieved during the three months prior to the announcement of the General Assembly. However, if the share was traded for less than one-third of the trading days in that period, the value will be determined by a special report on fair value assessment that must be reviewed by an independent certified auditor. Given that this is an extremely illiquid share, it is likely that a fair value assessment will be applied.

The last recorded transaction was conducted at a price of 129 euros per share, with a turnover of only six shares, or 774 euros. At that price, the market value of the listed issue amounts to approximately 36.6 million euros. In addition to the 283,760 listed shares of series A, Klara also has 234,187 shares of series B that are not listed on the stock exchange.

Withdrawal After Consolidation

The largest individual owner of the listed shares is Čakovečki mlinovi, which holds 89.55 percent of that issue, while Slavko Gorički holds just under eight percent. Due to this ownership structure, the acceptance of the proposal for the withdrawal of shares is very likely.

If the decision receives more than 90 percent of the votes cast, it will take effect on the day of registration in the court register, and in other cases, six months after registration.

The withdrawal from the stock exchange comes after a strong consolidation of the bakery business within the Čakovečki mlinovi group. At the end of last year, bakery units from NewMip and Čakovečki mlinovi were transferred to Klara, thereby taking over production facilities in Sisak, Našice, Čakovec, and Oroslavje. For the third quarter of this year, the merger of the bakery unit Radnika Opatija is also planned.

The expansion in the first half of the year increased Klara’s revenues by 36.3 percent, to 27.5 million euros, but expenses grew even faster. As a result, net profit fell from last year’s 853 thousand to just 20.6 thousand euros.