Bulgaria's Monbat shareholders approve sale of Austrian unit

Bulgarian battery manufacturer Monbat [BUL:MONB] said it received the green light from its shareholders for the planned sale of its Austria-based subsidiary Monbat Immobilien GmbH as well as its related real estate assets for a total price of 15.2 million euro ($16.2 million).

At a general meeting held last week, Monbat shareholders mandated the company's board to continue negotiations for the potential sale of the subsidiary for no less than 8 million euro, Monbat said in a stock exchange filing last week.

In addition, equity owners gave their consent for the potential disposal of the unit's land plots, buildings and facilities in Schwarzenau, Austria, for at least 7.2 million euro.

The name of the potential buyer was not disclosed.

Both offers were accepted by shareholders representing 57.29% of Monbat's voting shares.

In a statement prior to the meeting, Monbat said that the Austrian company, which was acquired in exchange for its investment in Bulgarian business Octa Light, has been treated as an asset for potential sale, and approaches were made to possibly interested buyers from Russia, China and the Middle East.

The coronavirus pandemic and the military conflict in Ukraine, however, sapped interest in the type of real estate of the subsidiary, resulting in only two offers having been tabled, which give an indication of the potential market valuation to be achieved, Monbat added.

As at 1017 CET on Tuesday, shares in Monbat traded 2.59% lower at 5.65 levs ($3.08/2.88 euro) on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange.

(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)

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