A paid advertisement published in print media in Bosnia-Herzegovina on Monday reads that Alvogen is conducting final negotiations with the government of the country's Croat-Muslim entity on the purchase of Bosnalijek shares. The entity government, which is the largest shareholder in this local drug maker, holds a 19-percent stake in Bosnalijek.
The formal sale of the government's shares is expected soon and Alvogen has expressed interest and is financing the entire transaction with its own funds, the paid advertisement reads.
Apart from the entity government, the second largest shareholder in Bosnalijek is the Investment Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank, with a 9-percent stake.
Bosnalijek is a joint stock company in which small shareholders, most of whom are company employees and investment funds, control 63.5 percent of its stock. The Libyan fund for economic and social development owns 8.8 percent of the Bosnalijek stock.
This April, following several months of negotiations with Alvogen, the entity government decided to put on the stock market its shares in Bosnalijek, together with a package of shares held by the IFC investment fund. The entire arrangement failed after Alvogen did not offer the expected price for the government's stake. The government offered its stake at the price of 22.03 convertible marks per share, expecting 33 million convertible marks for its package of 1.5 million shares. The privately-owned multinational company did not respond in the expected way.
According to information from the Sarajevo Stock Exchange (SASE), the current price for Bosnalijek shares is 14.79 convertible marks (approximately seven euros) per share.
In 2009, Bosnalijek reported record high earnings of 107 million convertible marks.