Kardan NV (TASE: KRNV;AEX:KARD) unit TBIF Financial Services BV is selling its 50% in Russia's Sovcom Bank to its partner for €123 million (NIS 600 million). Kardan will report a €10 million loss on the sale, although it earlier reported €40 million in gains on sales of shares in the bank.
Kardan will receive an initial payment of €40 million within a month of the signing, and the rest when the sale is closed, which is due by June 2012. Kardan said that it invested €100 million in Sovcom over the years.
The sale of Sovcom is just the last sell-off by Kardan. Last week, subsidiary GTC Real Estate China Ltd. signed an agreement to sell half of the Galleria Chengdu to private equity firm MGPA for €45 million, and will report a profit of €13 million. GTC China sold its 50% stake in the Hangzhou International Financial Center for €31 million in January.
Also in May, Globe Trade Centre SA (WSE:GTC) (GTC Poland) signed an agreement to sell its 50% stake in the Galeria Mokotow in Warsaw to its partner for NIS 550 million in cash (after repaying a loan on the mall), and will report a profit of €1 million.
Following the property sales, Standard & Poor's Maalot Ltd. gave Kardan's bonds a BBB+ rating and raised its outlook to "Positive", citing the reduction in debt and improvement in liquidity.
Kardan's share price fell 2.4% in Amsterdam today to €3.27 and fell 1.3% on the TASE to NIS 16.22, giving a market cap of NIS 1.84 billion.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 16, 2011
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