New scandal at Prodplast

The Association of Capital Market Investors (AIPC) says the 1.21 lei/share price, at which investment vehicle Avaliser Trading recently took over a 9.46% stake in Prodplast București (PPL.RO) should not be considered when setting the price in the tender offer that Florin Pogonaru has to conduct.

At stake are the around EUR3 billion in additional amount that Pogonaru could be forced to pay to minority shareholders as part of the tender offer.

Avaliser Trading, registered in Cyprus, was recently reported as acting in concert with Pogonaru’s group, together controlling around 40% of Prodplast. Avaliser bought around 6.5% in Prodplast from Broadhurst investment fund in March, ending up with a 9.46% stake.

The transactions conducted by Avaliser Trading Ltd. Cyprus could manipulate the price in the future mandatory tender offer,” say representatives of the association, who ask that capital market watchdog CNVM (National Securities Commission) intervene in this case.

Prodplast minority shareholders have been waiting for over a year for Pogonaru to submit the documentation to the capital market watchdog in order for the tender offer to be conducted, as required by law, after in January 2010 it was reported on the Stock Exchange that he had crossed the 33% control threshold. The watchdog fined Pogonaru’s companies in December for not running a tender offer at Prodplast.