DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Norwegian conglomerate Orkla (ORK.OS) Wednesday said that its
wholly-owned subsidiary Lilleborg AS has made an offer to
shareholders in Jotun AS, a Norwegian producer of paints, to buy A
shares at a price of NOK70,000 a share in cash.
The company said it has been an active minority shareholder in
Jotun for nearly 40 years and now wishes to take part in the
further development of Jotun as a majority shareholder.
Orkla already owns 41,981 A shares and 103,446 B shares in
Jotun, which is equivalent to 42.5% of share capital and 38.2% of
the voting rights. An A share in Jotun entitles the holder to 10
times as many votes as a B share.
The offer is conditional on Orkla acquiring a total stake
representing more than 50% of the voting rights in the company.
If all the A shareholders accept the offer, Orkla's stake in
Jotun will represent 63.6% of the share capital and 90.9% of the
voting rights. In such case, the total purchase price will be NOK5
billion.
The acceptance period expires on Sep. 30. Orkla reserves the
right to extend this deadline.
Shares Tuesday closed at NOK44.30.
-By Katarina Gustafsson, Dow Jones Newswires +46-8-5451-3097;
katarina.gustafsson@dowjones.com