Baumax withdraws from stock exchange

Baumax is withdrawing from the Wiener Börse (Vienna Stock Exchange) after being listed on it for 14 years. In 1990 the Austrian DIY store operator floated around a third of its shares on the exchange as preference shares at a price of € 32.70. However, these did not develop in line with the value of the company, according to Martin Essl, chairman of the company’s board of management. It was therefore decided to buy the shares back (squeeze out). The offer, which shareholders accepted last Wednesday at a general meeting, was increased by around a quarter and set at € 20.58 per share. The remaining 3.57 per cent of scattered holdings is thus now owned once again by the Essl family, which has 88 per cent of the Baumax shares in all. The remaining twelve per cent is held by Spar Beteiligung GmbH.