Issue #1469 (31), Tuesday, April 28, 2009

BUSINESS

Перевести на русский

Print this article

Deripaska to Give Up 25% Stake in Strabag

Bloomberg

VIENNA — Strabag SE’s biggest shareholders will agree this week to take over Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska’s 25 percent stake in central Europe’s biggest construction company.

Raiffeisen Holding NOe-Wien and Strabag Chief Executive Officer Hans-Peter Haselsteiner will gain the holding from Deripaska, who will keep one share in the company and hold a call option on his stake until December 20, 2009, Raiffeisen Chief Executive Officer Erwin Hameseder said Monday at a briefing in Vienna.

Deripaska will remain a “partner” of Strabag for now, Hameseder said.

“We are confident that Deripaska will manage to consolidate his finances and make use of the call option,” Hameseder said at the briefing. If that doesn’t happen, the investors may look for another partner, he said.

Deripaska two years ago agreed to buy a stake in Strabag to help the Austrian builder expand its business in Russia, which was set to become the company’s biggest single market. A falling stock price has forced him to either give up the stake or pledge more collateral on the loans that he used to purchase it.

Strabag shares peaked in November 2007 at 54.85 euros ($72.08) about two weeks after the company’s initial share sale, on prospects that growth in Russia will boost the company’s profits. The stock fell 63 percent over the past 12 months and was trading at 15.54 euros as of 11:24 a.m. in Vienna on Monday, giving the company a market value of 1.77 billion euros.

More stories by this section:

Something to say? Write to the Opinion Page Editor. Click to open the form.

E-mail or online form:

If you are willing for your comment to be published as a letter to the editor, please supply your first name, last name and the city and country where you live.

Your email:

Little about you:

SUBMIT OPINION

Or take part in the discussion below.