Mansvell Enterprises, an investment vehicle of Ukrainian businessman Igor Kolomoisky, offered to buy out minority shareholders in Danish airline Cimber Sterling for 1.50 crowns (USD$0.29) per share on Monday.
The mandatory public offer for minority shares followed Mansvell's acquisition of a 70.8 percent stake in Cimber through a directed share issue on August 1.
Cimber Sterling's board of directors said it had considered the price fair before concluding the subscription deal with Mansvell. It noted that the stock traded above the offer price at the end of last week and said it would neither recommend that shareholders accept the offer nor advise against it.
"Whether this price is attractive to the individual shareholder will depend on a number of factors, including the price at which the individual shareholder's shares in Cimber Sterling were purchased," the board said.
Mansvell is a Cyprus-registered company and the holding company of Sweden-based regional airline Skyways and, through that company, also of Gothenburg, Sweden-based City Airline.
Kolomoisky also has non-controlling interests in Ukrainian aviation companies and is one of the principal shareholders in a number of Portugal-based leasing companies, the offer document said.
It said Mansvell's strategy in investing in Cimber was to consolidate a number of regional players in the Nordic market and, in the long term, to establish a significant, Nordic-based airline based on Cimber Sterling as a listed company.
