VILNIUS- Just days after a tabloid publisher outbid it for the state's 40 percent stake in Elta, MG Baltic hit back by raising its stake in the news agency to 57.93 percent.
The concern purchased 6.75 percent from Achema, an industrial group, while blocks of shares were bought from small investors, Raimondas Kurlianskis, MG Baltic vice president, said.
"The agreement with Achema Group was signed on June 10, and the transaction was closed on July 14 as we finally settled payment for the shares," he told the Baltic News Service.
According to the Vilnius Stock Exchange, MG Baltic, Lithuania's leading private-equity concern, acquired a 7.07 percent stake in the agency via the two over-the-counter transactions for a total of 735,000 litas (231,043 euros).
The deal came just days after Respublikos Investicija, a subsidiary of the Respublika group that publishes the country's most popular tabloids, bid a staggering 6.66 million litas 's 3.3 times the starting price 's for the state's 39.51 percent stake in Elta. The publisher's CEO, Vitus Tomkas, later admitted that he was interested in acquiring a majority stake in the news agency.
MG Baltic came second with a bid of 2.26 million litas.
Elta owns a 1,490 square meter building on Gedimino Avenue, Vilnius' central street, and has leased a part to MG Baltic Investment, which has opened a hotel and a casino on the premises.
The agency's net earnings amounted to 300,000 litas in 2004, a drastic fall compared with 2003. Annual revenues declined by 19.2 percent year-on-year to reach 2.4 million litas.
The news agency, which employs a workforce of about 50, is projecting revenues of 2.6 million litas for 2005 and is hoping to see profits.