Michelin bid to delist Stomil Olsztyn from WSE fails

Michelin, the majority shareholder of Polish tyre manufacturer Stomil Olsztyn, has failed in its attempt to to buy out the remaining shares in the company and force its withdrawal from the bourse. Instead, Michelin only managed to purchase an extra 2.9% stake in the company on Monday, giving it a total share of 65.8%. Michelin offered zl.24.5 per share, below the expectations of the minority investors. The coalition of minority investors, controlling around 25% of shares of Stomil Olsztyn, has been at loggerheads with Michelin for over a year over allegations that it had channeled profits out of Stomil through high trademark fees and low export prices. One coalition member told Gazeta Wyborcza: "This was the most spectacular case of an informal coalition of financial investors preventing the withdrawal of a company from the bourse". Despite Michelin announcing that there would be no second tender for the sale of shares, analysts predict that the French concern may in fact launch a new tender. (Rzeczpospolita, p. B4, Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 28) P.W.