Shareholders looking for reconciliation

The problems between the majority and minority shareholders, related to the manner of releasing public purchasing offers in view of turning a certain company into a closed one, have to be solved according to the European regulations in the field, the chairman of the Council of Foreign Investors Fergus Cass said.
He specified a meeting between the representatives of the majority and minority shareholders was to be organised this week to tackle their relations and find a way to address this issue so that both parties could be satisfied.
“This is a most difficult and complex matter. We feel we have to abide by the European practices and we will try to find a solution to please everybody,” said Cass, who is also the chairman of Unilever Romania. The representatives of the Council of Foreign Investors met with PM Adrian Nastase and asked him to take steps to help settle the situation between the majority and minority shareholders and enact the Fiscal Procedure Code.
The Association of Shareholders in Romania (AAR) is planning to go to court and challenge the decisions of the National Securities Commission (CNVM) to authorise the public purchasing offers put out in view of turning certain companies into closed ones, without observing the price criteria stipulated in the Emergency Ordinance 28/2002 on securities. The Government in October modified the deadline by which all the shareholders controlling more than 90% in a specific company (absolute majority) were bound to run a public purchasing offer in order to turn it into a closed one. The new deadline was set for twelve months from December 1, 2002.
The ordinance, however, suspends the previous stipulations by its publication, so that some might feel they could run purchasing offers until December 1, without observing the old provisions (modified by the Emergency Ordinance 122). Pursuant to those stipulations, the price at which those controlling more than 90% in a specific company had to put out the purchasing offer was supposed to be set by auditors.