The privatization of Warmia has been going on for several years now but it may be concluded this year. There is one condition, however.
“We must receive a very attractive offer, otherwise we will apply for commercialization. The main aim of the privatization is to raise funds for investments, that’s why the price will be the most important criterion”, Jerzy Szczepanik from Warminsko-Mazurskie office said.
Besides, the investor should have a strong market position and its own retail network. According to unofficial sources, there are five companies interested in the acquisition of Warmia, including Bytom. Negotiations will start at the beginning of August. They will last two or three months.
“Bytom is one of the most serious investors”, Jerzy Szczepanik added.
Bytom, the listed producer of male’s clothes, wants to spend funds raised in the issue of 22.7m shares of K series planned in August. The company would like to raise PLN 11m (EUR 3.3m) in this issue. However, when Bytom was trying to sell its shares in February, it raised only PLN 1.16m instead of PLN 17.5m as planned.
“If it’s necessary, we will take a credit to buy Warmia. This is but only one of many possibilities”, Tomasz Sarapata, Bytom CEO said.
Bytom has been consolidating the market since 2006. It hopes to exceed PLN 100m of sales this year and generate a double-digit net income but it publishes no official forecasts. Last year, Bytom had PLN 87.2m of sales and PLN 6.9m of net income. Yesterday, its stock dropped 6.8 percent to PLN 1.65.
(PLN 1 = EUR 0.304)