OREANDA-NEWS. June 15, 2012. Acron submitted an application to BNP Paribas to participate in the privatisation of 1,666,213 common registered shares of Apatit, or approximately 20% of its authorised capital.

At the same time, Acron notified BNP Paribas that it cannot sign the bid terms in their current form, since they do not comply with the Russian law regulating privatisation procedures. Another problem is that the terms provide an unreasonably short period for filing documents, including obtaining antitrust approval and a bank guarantee. Thus, the bid terms considerably narrow the number of potential bidders for the stake in Apatit.   

In view of the above, Acron asked BNP Paribas to amend the bid terms and postpone the sale until after September 1, 2012.

Acron has also filed a claim with the Moscow Arbitrazh Court against the Federal Property Management Agency (Rosimushchestvo) requesting that the bid terms be declared invalid and that Rosimushchestvo be forced to ensure that the privatisation of Apatit’s stake complies with the law.