MOL: company does not plan hostile bid on INA

MOL (27 450 HUF, -0,92%) confirmed it interest in boosting its stake in INA on Friday, but declared that it would not make a hostile public bid for INA shares. The news came after Croatian government’s stake in INA fell below 50% last month, after approved the sale of seven percent INA stake to current and former employees.

Our view: In our view MOL (27 450 HUF, -0,92%) wanted to demonstrate to the government that it is more interested in a friendly cooperation rather than in a hostile takeover attempt. This seems very reasonable for us, given that the Croatian government has the influence on the domestic fuel and natural gas prices, which determines the profitability of INA. The good relationship with the Croatian government is the basic interest of MOL (27 450 HUF, -0,92%). With the statement, MOL (27 450 HUF, -0,92%) also sent a message to the public that it is more cooperative than OMV (45 EUR, -0,76%), what we see another element of the communication war between the two companies. However, we consider the news as neutral for MOL (27 450 HUF, -0,92%) share price.