Ciech to sell subsidiary to fund future acquisitions

The company, which specializes in benzene and ethylene production, generated a net profit of zł.21.4 million last year on revenues of zł.296.1 million, but closed H1 2005 with a net profit of only zł.0.6 million. PB is too small to successfully compete with branch giants, and Ciech would have to invest a huge amount of capital in acquiring other entities from the sector to save the firm. In order to improve its situation Ciech's management board decided it would be best to sell PB to the Hungarian company BorsodChem, which is listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. According to the business daily Parkiet, the transaction will only be finalised in October. The value of the transaction has not been revealed so far. Money from the deal will be allocated for future takeovers. "The money from the transaction will enable us to buy companies in Romania and Poland," confirmed Marek Klat, Ciech's spokesperson. (Parkiet, Oct. 1-2, p. 1) A.F.