Purchase offers|Citycon’s largest owner, the Israeli G City, has made a mandatory offer to buy the company.
real estate investment company Citycon’s largest owner has made a purchase offer to buy the company off the stock market.
On Monday, Israeli real estate investor G City announced a mandatory purchase offer for Citycon, which is listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange. G City offers Citycon shareholders EUR 4.00 per company share.
According to G City, the offer consideration is almost 36 percent higher than the share’s closing price in Citycon on Friday. Citycon’s share closed at EUR 2.95 on Friday.
G City says in its press release that its holding in Citycon has increased by more than 50 percent with the share transaction made on Monday together with its wholly owned subsidiary Gazit Europe Netherlands.
Thus, according to the legislation, G City has an obligation to make a mandatory public purchase offer for Citycon. G City says that it paid EUR 4.00 per share for the shares it bought.
Citycon ownership has long been exceptionally concentrated.
Before Monday’s share sale, G City owned 29.95 percent of Citycon and Gazit Europe Netherland 19.77 percent. In Monday’s share trading, G City’s holding in Citycon rose to 37.68 percent.
Citycon says in its press release that it has received information about G City’s purchase offer. The company’s board of directors says it will discuss the purchase offer among members independent of G City and says it will make a statement about it later.
Citycon owns a total of 28 shopping centers in the Nordic countries and Estonia. In Finland, it owns another Iso Omena shopping center in Espoo, Myyrmann in Vantaa and Koskikeskus in Tampere.
G City, or formerly Gazit Globe, was founded by an Israeli-American businessman Chaim Katzman.
Citycon has recently changed its managing director. In September, a Hungarian was appointed as CEO Eshel Pesti. It was the third change of CEO in a year and a half.
Citycon has suffered from the weak situation of the real estate market in the Nordic countries. Due to the weak market, the company has had to reduce the valuations of its properties.