The stealthy takeover of Russian automaker OAO GAZ by OAO Siberian Aluminium (Sibal)
is complete, and the metals group could gain seats on the automaker’s board of
directors next month, sources told just-auto.com today.
The board is expected to convene on November 29 to review changes in GAZ’s
ownership, including the stake amassed by Sibal. An extraordinary general meeting
likely will be called then for late December to ratify changes in GAZ’s leadership,
now under discussion with the metals group, sources said, noting Sibal likely
will gain high posts at the automaker.
News today follows a meeting on November 17 between Sibal head Oleg Deripaska
and GAZ president Nikolai Pugin. On November 15, the metals group announced
it had accumulated a stake exceeding 25% plus one share in the automaker, adding
it planned to buy "absolute control" of GAZ.
A 25% stake is enough to veto strategic votes at shareholder meetings.
"Sibal only came public when it was certain it had effective control of
GAZ, though this is not necessarily a 50% stake," Alexander Andreev, senior
financial analyst at Brunswick UBS Warburg in Moscow, told just-auto.com.
Informed observers estimate Sibal now controls 30%-40% of GAZ shares.
GAZ (Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod or Gorky Auto Factory) is the second-largest
producer of vehicles in the ex-USSR, behind Lada-maker AO AvtoVAZ. Its foreign
partners include European Bank for Reconstruction and Development plus Fiat
Auto SpA. GAZ is based 400km east of Moscow in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia’s third-biggest
city (renamed Gorky 1932-1991).
Contact Ryan James Tutak, associate editor of just-auto.com for Eastern Europe: E rjt@pronet.hu F +36-1 / 317-7257 T +36-1 / 266-2693 |
To read recent reports by just-auto.com about GAZ, please follow the links below.
https://www.just-auto.com/news_detail.asp?art=19283
https://www.just-auto.com/news_detail.asp?art=19492
https://www.just-auto.com/news_detail.asp?art=19183
https://www.just-auto.com/news_detail.asp?art=18896
