Fairfax purchases another 7.8% stake of Astarta

Fairfax Financial Holdings (FFH CN), a Canadian asset manager, recently acquired a 7.81% stake of Ukraine’s leading sugar producer Astarta (AST PW) at PLN 60 per share, as reported by Interfax-Ukraine on May 12. The stake purchased belonged to Astarta board member Valeriy Korotkov.

In early 2017, Fairfax acquired a 9.99% stake (consisting of a 1.8% stake belonging to Astarta CEO Viktor Ivanchyk, and a 8.19% stake belonging to Korotkov) at PLN 60, followed by the purchase of another 9.99% stake, also belonging to Korotkov, at the same price in the beginning of March.

Igor Zholonkivskyi:  By purchasing this 7.81% stake, Fairfax has fully exercised its option as stipulated by the conditions of the main deal early this year. 

Following the completion of the deal, Korotkov has now completely exited his 25.98% total stake in Astarta, while Fairxfax has accumulated the second largest stake in the company at 27.79%. Viktor Ivanchyk remains the largest shareholder with a 36% stake.