By Liz White, UT editor
Kazincbarcika, Hungary-BorsodChem Nyrt announced today that it has received a purchase offer from a grouping called First Chemical Holding Vagyonkezelo Korlátolt Felelosségu Társaság, on behalf of Kikkolux Group and VCP Group, for all registered voting ordinary shares of BorsodChem Public Co. Ltd.
VCP Group, originally called Vienna Capital Partners, used to own 92 percent of Hungarian isocyanates producer BorsodChem, but sold 70 percent of its holding in 2004. In the current bid for BorsodChem, VCP agreed in principle to sell its remaining 21.83 percent stake to Kikkolux.
Now the Vienna-based investment group seems to have had a change of heart. In the latest offer, announced 20 Sept, it transpires that VCP and Kikkolux instead, "entered into an Interim Joint Venture Agreement," on 18 Sept. Based on this agreement, they qualify as parties acting in concert, according to Hungary's capital markets act.
Kikkolux Group is formed of various investment companies, backed by major equity group, Permira Group. Kikkolux Sarl, the Luxembourg equity group which made the original bid for Borsodchem's shares back in July, recently completed its due diligence investigatons into BorsodChem's operations and said it was going ahead with its offer.
In the original bid, Kikkolux also said it had agreed in principle with Firthlion Ltd, a UK-based group owned by Russian investors, that it would buy that group's 26.16 percent holding.
The current offer makes no mention of the Firthlion shares.
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