Ceska sporitelna said in a press release yesterday that the opinion of its board of directors and supervisory board is that the tender offer announced by AVS (CZK 375 per share) is in line with the interests of CS’s shareholders, employees, and creditors. The opinion, which is required by the Czech Commercial Code, is based in part on an independent assessment by the Fox-Pitt, Kelton investment bank (CTK).
Separately, the Czech SEC is due to release its opinion of the intended buyout offer today. An SEC spokesperson said previously that, given that the offer is voluntary, it would not assess the issue of price, only the technical side of the transaction.
(Ondrej Datka)