The Latvian administrative district court rejected a claim by Firebird Republics Fund, a minority holder in Latvia's SEB Unibanka, against the financial watchdog's decision to approve the final buy-out offer by the bank's largest owner, Swedish banking group Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken (SEB).
Firebird Republics Fund has said it had filed the claim with the court because the buy-out price of 2.24 lats (3.18 euros) per share offered by SEB was too low.
The judgment can be appealed in 20 days. It is unclear yet if Firebird Republics Fund would file the appeal.
SEB's final buy-out offer, which required all remaining shareholders to sell their shares to SEB, has been suspended since June 2004 when Firebird filed the claim against the buy-out's approval by the Finance and Capital Market Commission.
Firebird Republics Fund Ltd., an investment company registered in the Cayman Islands, holds 176,816 shares in SEB Unibanka.
