MEI and Raiffeisen ask for board seats at PTR

A group of foreign and Romanian investment funds holding over
10% in the capital of Rompetrol Well Services (PTR) asked for
managers to be elected through the cumulative voting method so as
that they may appoint their own representative in the company’s
Board of Directors, given that they deem the price included in the
tender bid submitted by Kazakhstan’s KazMunaiGaz as unattractive.
The shareholders that made the proposal are several investment
funds managed by Netherlands’ MEI, that owns around 5.9% in PTR,
and three Romanian funds managed by Raiffeisen Asset Management and
SIF Banat-Crisana. The demand by the group of minority shareholders
in the company comes just one day before the tender offer submitted
by Rompetrol, controlled by KazMunaiGaz, expires. The latter
offered a price of 0.43 RON/share for stock owned by the minority
stakeholders in Rompetrol Well Services, accounting for 48% in the
company’s capital, with the total value of the bid amounting to 57m
RON (13.8m euros). The Dutch at MEI estimated the fair price stands
at over 1 RON/share, on the basis of indicators other companies in
the field traded at, also quoting the company’s financial position
and its high profitability margins.