The public and voluntary takeover offer made by Infortar to Tallink shareholders was accepted by 21.71% of the company's shareholders. Infortar invests 88.8 million euros in the acquisition of Tallink shares and increases its stake in Tallink to 68.47%. Tallink remains on the stock exchange. “When we made the offer, we believed that it would be attractive to those who want to leave the region – and our assumptions turned out to be correct. The majority of Tallink's 30,000 shareholders have decided to remain involved and therefore have the same vision as Infortar,” said Infortar Chairman of the Board Ain Hanschmidt. “Infortar believes in Tallink's business model – the management and entire team of the company have done a good job and successfully led it through a number of crises. Covid-related difficulties have been overcome and business activities have returned to normal. In addition to record profits in 2023, Tallink has significantly reduced its debt burden and ensured a strong financial position,” said Hanschmidt. “Tallink remains and will remain listed on the stock exchange – like most other Estonian stock exchange companies – with a minority stake. Estonia has developed a strong investor community, and both Infortar and Tallink have benefited significantly from being public companies,” added Hanschmidt. At the beginning of July, Estonia's largest investment company, Infortar, presented Tallink shareholders with a public and voluntary takeover offer – the shareholders had no obligations, but had the opportunity to choose whether to accept the offer or not. Infortar treats shareholders equally and the public offer extended to all Tallink shareholders. Infortar offered Tallink shareholders 0.55 euros per share. Based on the timeline of the process, all shareholders also received a prior year dividend of 6 cents per share. The offered price was close to the average price of Tallink shares over the last three years, which is 0.61 euros per share. A year ago, in June 2023, Tallink's share price was EUR 0.56 per share. As part of the offer, shareholders decided to sell a total of 161,395,930 shares to Infortar, representing 21.67% of all Tallink shares. Infortar will finance the transaction from its liquid funds, and the purchase price will be paid to participating shareholders on August 9 this year. Tallink's operational and financial performance will be consolidated and reflected in Infortar's results for the next quarter. With this public takeover offer, Infortar is implementing the strategy described in its initial public offering and prospectus, whereby the group's intention in the shipping segment is to increase its stake in Tallink if Tallink's stock price is favorable and regulatory requirements allow it. Read RusDelfi wherever it is convenient for you. Follow us on Facebook, Telegram, Instagram and even TikTok.
