A new buying offer for a.N. Galati?

Shares of river and sea ship producer aantierul Naval Galati (Galati Shipyard) on Thursday’s trading session on the Rasdaq secondary market registered a record increase of almost 27%, up to 52,000 lei/share, 11,000 lei higher than the average price registered in the previous trading session.

“As far as the shares of aantierul Naval Galati are concerned, similar evolutions have always been registered before the launch of a public buying offer by Damen. This is why, this time too, market rumours might turn out to be true,” BRD Invest trader Ioan Gheorghiu told Ziarul Financiar.

The volume of shares traded on Thursday amounted to 42,000 shares, accounting for 1.27% of the company’s share capital. At the end of the trading session, the best price offered for these shares stood at 41,000 lei per share, while selling offers started at 55,000 lei for one share.

Dutch sea and river ship constructor Damen Shipyards NV initiated the latest public bid for the shares issued by aantierul Naval Galati at mid-March this year, the price it offered at that time standing at 69,000 lei for one share.

The quite high level of the last buying offer, as compared to the market average registered during this week, has significantly stimulated investors, in fact shareholders owning the last approximately 3% of the shares that are currently traded on the market.

On the other hand, during the last buying offer, Damen clearly expressed its intention to shut down the company and withdraw its shares from the Rasdaq market.

Damen Shipyards began the offensive for the shares of aantierul Naval Galati when it acquired the majority stake from the State Ownership Fund on March 25, 1999. After this acquisition, Damen initiated two more buying offers, one at the end of 1999 and the other at mid-March 2000. At present, it holds 97% of aantierul Naval Galati shares.

aantierul Naval Galati has a share capital worth 83.06 billion lei, divided into shares with a face value of 25,000 lei.