SocGen Romania Fund to sell two companies

Investment fund Societe Generale Romania Fund (SGRF), holding shares in Electroaparataj, Luxten, Arctic, Dorna and MobilRom, intends to sell two of its investments by the end of the year.

“The first will be sold through negotiations with a strategic investor, while the second will be sold through public offer,” Cella Eftimescu, managing director with SG Asset Management, the company administering the fund, told Ziarul Financiar.

One of the potential candidates is Arctic Gaesti, which was rumoured to be taken over by Whirlpool at the beginning of the year. Only a collaboration contract between these two partners was eventually announced and Whirlpool is going to produce refrigerators at the Gaesti-based plant.

Arctic registered 18 billion lei in losses over the first quarter of the year. Cella Eftimescu specified that losses were triggered by the sales’ cyclic evolution.

“Every first quarter concluded with losses over the last four years. I do not mean that Arctic’s results live up to the shareholders’ expectations, but the sales’ cyclic evolution may trigger results like this year’s,” SG Asset management director said.

Market sources stated that Luxten was one of the companies ready to be put up for sale. Luxten is an efficient company, which tripled its results over the last three years, against the downward trend in Romanian economy.

According to other rumours, SGRF would sell its stake in Electroaparataj for a profitable price, provided the other shareholders are willing to strengthen their position.

SGRF is one of the first investment funds having entered the Romanian market. Total value of its capital stood at 65 million dollars.

Due to the enthusiasm of the Romanian capital market beginnings, the fund started to acquire stocks from the Stock Exchange market and a part of them are still in the fund’s portfolio.