OFEs turn down Pelion tender offer

Five pension funds: Aegon, MetLife, PZU, Aviva and Nationale-Nederlanden turned down the Pelion tender offer at the current price of PLN 52.33 apiece, Pelion said in a market filing. WSE-listed pharmaceutical distributor Pelion wants to buy back up to 8.27 million shares, representing 50.83 percent of voting rights and 82.76 percent of its capital. Aviva controls 13.4 percent of Pelion's share, while Nationale-Nederlanden controls 9.0 percent, the remaining OFEs control less than 5 percent each. The tender will go through if at least 6.54 million shares are sold until May 12. Pelion shares were trading at PLN 58.50 on Thursday.