Spain's Azkar seeks new partners, possibly through capital increase
Transportes Azkar SA is seeking new partners to help finance the distribution group’s growth, Expansion reported citing unnamed sources close to the company.
Besides those companies already present in the sector, such as Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas SA and Actividades de Construccion y Servicios SA, “a Spanish investor group” could also be interested in taking a stake in Azkar, the paper said.
The possible investment could be carried out through a capital increase, Expansion said, noting that this would dilute the Somoza family’s 54.83 pct stake in the transport company.
Azkar’s other shareholders are savings banks Caja de Ahorros de Galicia and BBK, while the free float is 35 pct.
The group, which reported net profit of 11.62 mln eur in the nine months to Sept 30 on sales of 187.8 mln, has a stock market value of over 200 mln eur.
Expansion said although officials at Azkar denied that the company is up for sale, the group is open to alliances or mergers with other European firms operating in the sector which would open up new markets.
