Reuters: Private Equity: Penta, Eastbridge raise bid for Polish retailer EM&F

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Penta, Eastbridge raise bid for Polish retailer EM&F Apr 27th 2012, 17:00 WARSAW, April 27 | Fri Apr 27, 2012 1:00pm EDT WARSAW, April 27 (Reuters) - Czech private equity group Penta Investments and asset management firm Eastbridge raised their joint bid for Polish retailer Empik Media & Fashion (EM&F) on Friday, valuing the group at nearly 1.1 billion zlotys ($349 million). Penta and Eastbridge are now offering 10.38 zlotys per share in their bid to buy 40 percent of EM&F to co-run and eventually delist it. In March Penta and Eastbridge, now the main shareholder at EM&F, offered 410 million zlotys to buy the stake. "This is what we were hoping for. The original price was much too low. This is a move in the right direction and we will consider it," Marcin Zoltek, chief investment office at Aviva OFE, which holds 9 percent stake in EM&F, told Reuters. EM&F, which has seen its shares rise by nearly 20 percent this year to 9.50 zlotys on Friday, operates about 750 stores in central and eastern Europe and opened Poland's first GAP outlet a few months ago. Its holdings also include Poland's leading chain of toy stores, Smyk, as well as book and newspaper retailer Empik, lately hit by weaker sales in clothes and cosmetics. It faces a challenge on its home turf from Toys R Us , which opened its first Polish store last year. ($1=3.1479 zlotys) (Reporting by Maciej Onoszko; Writing by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Greg Mahlich) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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