In July, Vredestein N.V.'s holding company tendered a public bid for the outstanding shares it didn't own. With the sale completed, Vredestein is now a private company.
The holding company, Vredestein Investment Consortium N.V. (VICO), owned 61.2% of Vredestein prior to its bid of 7.50 euros a share for more than three million shares. Based on the bid price, Vredestein's issued and subscribed share capital is worth some 64 million euros ($78.2 million based on yesterday's currency exchange rate).
Vredestein's stock price has since been de-listed from the Amsterdam stock exchange (Euronext Amsterdam N.V.).
According to Vredestein, the number of jobs or terms of employement at the Dutch company were not affected by the buyout.
Vredestein NV posted a net profit of 100,000 euros on consolidated net sales of 125.4 million euros for the first six months of 2003. That compares to a net profit of 500,000 euros on net sales of 126.7 million euros for the first six months of 2002.
The six-month operating result was 1.6 million euros lower "because of higher costs that were incurred by a reorganization, higher pension expenses and also higher insurance premiums," said the company. A non-recurring capital gain on the sale of a part of some land partly compensated for the higher costs.
