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Thursday, 28.03.2024, 17:37
Potential buyer of KVV Liepajas Metalurgs increases share capital to EUR 7.5 mln
The company’s share capital has been increased by issuing 7,500,000 bearer
shares with the face value of EUR 1. Luxembourg-registered company Kalior Invest SA has subscribed to
6,000,000 or 80% of these shares and the Swiss-registered Trasteel Trading Holding SA to 1,500,000 or 20% of the shares. The
share capital has to be paid up by October 16.
According to unconfirmed information obtained by LETA, K-1 Liepajas Metalurgs Plant is a legal
entity established to take over the assets of KVV Liepajas Metalurgs.
Israeli citizen Igor Shamis, the
sole board member of KVV Liepajas
Metalurgs, is the buyer of KVV Liepajas
Metalurgs steelworks, according to information obtained by LETA. The
company’s supervisory board is chaired by Russian citizen Dmitry Baranov. Other
members of the supervisory board include Swiss citizen Gianfranco Lauro Carlo Imperato and Latvian
citizens Iveta Tile and Gunta Ziverte.
Upon registration, K-1 Liepajas
Metalurgs Plant had a share capital of EUR 35,000. According to information
from Firmas.lv, Shamis provided EUR
27,700 of the company’s share capital, Swiss company Trasteel International SA contributed EUR 7,000 and Latvian citizen
Nadezda Malinovska paid EUR 300 on Shamis’ behalf.
As reported, the plan is to sell off the ailing company by October 16. All
the necessary documents are now being processed and agreed with the potential
buyer. After that, the company’s secured creditors will be asked to approve the
deal.
According to unconfirmed information obtained by LETA, the buyer of KVV Liepajas Metalurgs is Shamis who three years ago was one of
the main bidders for the steelworks’ assets. The company was then sold to
Ukraine’s KVV Group.
In 2014, United Group, a Luxembourg-registered company owned by Shamis, offered to acquire the Liepajas Metalurgs plant for EUR 120
million, while KVV Group, the winning bidder, offered EUR 107 million.
As reported, Economics Minister Arvils Aseradens (Unity) said in May that six potential investors had submitted non-binding
offers and the government has given the green light to further negotiations.
Aseradens voiced cautious optimism about chances of re-launching the steelworks.
The Liepaja Court declared KVV Liepajas
Metalurgs insolvent on September 16, 2016.
The government in May 2016 rejected the debt restructuring proposals by KVV
Group, the Ukrainian owners of KVV Liepajas
Metalurgs, saying that the proposals envisaged significant participation of
the Latvian state in the metallurgical company without handing over control
over the company, tax discounts and other measures that might be interpreted as
unlawful state aid.
The government also authorized the Latvian Privatization Agency (LPA) to
establish a company, FeLM, to which the State Treasury will assign its claim
against KVV Liepajas Metalurgs. The
steel plant owes EUR 65 million to the Latvian state.
Liepajas Metalurgs metallurgical plant based in the Liepaja port city in south-western Latvia
was first declared insolvent after it failed to repay a state-guaranteed loan
to an Italian bank. The government sold the plant to Ukrainian investors, KVV
Group, in late 2014.
Liepajas Metalurgs was renamed KVV Liepajas Metalurgs
and officially re-opened on March 6, 2015, but soon started having problems
again. The company had difficulties paying its electricity bills and wages to
workers. It also missed the deadline for a EUR 2.7 million payment to the
Latvian state, an installment for purchase of the steel plant.