The details mentioned by Borza is drastically limiting the range of possible investors. The only active entities of such size are sovereign funds of oil producing countries, such as Norway’s fund.
The investment value of Norway’s fund is fluctuating once with the financial and real estate markets and it had exceeded $900 billion at the beginning of the year. The fund had investments of EUR115 million in companies listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange at the end of 2014.
The fund’s largest local investment is the 2.4% in BRD lender, worth EUR35 million, as well as significant stakes in OMV Petrom (SNP.RO), Transgaz (TGN.RO), Electrica (EL.RO) and other five companies on the local bourse, according to available data.
Representatives of Norges Bank Investment Management, the division of the Norway’s central bank managing the sovereign fund, did not comment on this issue. Remus Borza equally refused to confirm or deny the investor’s identity.
The deal is expected to be closed down in September, before listing the company’s shares on the stock exchange, Borza added.
Borza announced in June it attracted an investment fund to pay EUR30 million for 25% of the company’s shares, without disclosing the name of the investor due a confidentiality clause in the agreement in principle.
“This is one of the top-5 investment funds worldwide, with a portfolio of $970 billion,“ said Borza last week.
The fund will buy into a new company, Polisano SA, which owns 100% in four companies: Polisano SRL (pharmaceutical wholesale), Clinica Polisano SRL (clinics and hospitals), Polisano Pharmaceuticals (production) and Sibpharmamed (Polisano pharmacies). They posted almost 1.7 billion lei (EUR383 million) revenue together in 2013.
(English version by Manuela Panescu)