Majority shareholder in Ukraine's Ovostar sells 2% stake for $2 million

MOSCOW. Oct 3 (Interfax) - The majority shareholder in Ukrainian agricultural holding Ovostar Union, Prime One Capital Limited, controlled by CEO Boris Belikov and Chairman of the Board of Directors Vitaly Veresenko, reduced its stake in Ovostar from 67.93% to 65.93%.

The transaction for the sale of 120,000 shares took place on September 29 at a rate of 70 zloty per share ($15.87 at the current exchange rate), Ukrainian media reported citing the holding's press service. This is higher than the current price of Ovostar shares on the Warsaw Stock Exchange of 61.5 zloty per share.

At that sale price, the total amount of the transaction was $1.9 million. The buyer of the shares was not specified in the message. Now, Prime One Capital owns 3,956,046 shares of Ovostar.

In September, other changes occurred in the structure of Ovostar's major shareholders. Insurance group Fairfax Financial Holdings (Canada) increased its stake in Ovostar from 17.499% to 27.51% on September 13. Meanwhile, the Generali OFE pension fund managed by Generali Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytlane S.A., which owned 10.93% of the shares, dropped out of the shareholding structure entirely.

Due to the decrease in free-float to less than 10%, Ovostar shares were excluded from the Warsaw Stock Exchange's WIG, WIG-CEE, WIG-food and WIG-Ukraine indices at the end of September.

In 2011, Ovostar Union held an IPO in Warsaw for a 25% stake at a price of 62 zlotys per share and raised $33.2 million.

In H1 2023, the holding earned $20.63 million in net profit compared to a net loss of $19.78 million the prior year. Revenue increased 56.8% to $88.69 million, mainly due to rising product prices.

Ovostar is a vertically integrated group, and one of the leading producers of chicken eggs and egg products in Ukraine.