Responding to the news with an official statement, the Russian/Dutch tyre manufacturer countered what was “erroneously reported and editorialised by Russian Business Consulting’s daily online newspaper RBC Daily.”
“This [RBC report] is a complete fabrication. We have no current plans to purchase our shares, and we have never announced any intention to do so,” said Amtel-Vredestein CEO, Alexei Gurin. However, shareholders did vote at the company’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Shareholders in June to grant authority to its executive board to purchase up to 10% of its shares.
During the week before Gurin’s statement, Amtel-Vredestein said it will hold an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders to vote on the appointment of a fifth member to its executive board. The agenda of the meeting included a proposal to amend the executive board’s authority to purchase shares of the company for a period of 15 months ending on Dec. 5, 2007, at the stock exchange. The company, together with its affiliate companies, is allowed to hold a maximum of 10% of the issued shares in the company.
The proposed prices for these shares is: “between par value and US$5.70 or between par value and the opening price at the stock exchange on the date of acquisition if the opening price exceeds the amount of US$5.70.”
The agenda also included details of the company’s proposed board appointment: Anne van’t Veer is a “highly qualified financial analyst, and has at the same time more than 30 years professional background with different enterprises both in Netherlands and Russia, where the main assets of the company are located,” the agenda read.
