Hoop threatens legal action over unfavorable evaluation

Hoop beverage distributor has threatened to sue independent analyst Jarosław Supłacz, who issued a report evaluating the company at less than zł. 5 per share, while other analysts rated the producer at zł. 26 per share, prior to its zł. 100 million IPO on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. Moreover, Supłacz went even further and published all his reservations concerning the financial condition of Hoop on the Internet, where he suggested Hoop's existing shareholders may be involved in asset stripping, and claimed the company was on the verge of bankruptcy. The report was dismissed by the company, which called a press conference to refute the allegations, saying it had been a victim of "black PR" and suggested that Supłacz offered the firm "a deal," whereby he would be paid for not publishing the report. On the other hand, Supłacz claims that it was in fact Hoop that had suggested paying him for not publishing. (Parkiet, p. 1) J.K.