MHP has thus squeezed out the small shareholders, who have not responded to the holding's recent takeover bid for the remaining shares. It now has 99.2% of the company's shares, excluding Perutnina Ptuj's own shares.

The buy-out price tag includes compensation of EUR 22.34 per share, the same as the price offered in the bid.

This is the last opportunity for 2,658 shareholders with discontinued accounts to receive more than EUR 600,000 combined in compensation and almost EUR 30,000 combined in former dividends, said the VZMD association of small shareholders.

The VZMD president Kristijan Verbič told the STA that the small shareholders could get compensation only if they transferred their shares by 1 September - a step which has been taken by more than 500 of them so far.

Verbič also said that the shareholders would appeal against the move since the association had submitted a proposal before the meeting requesting a dividend payout for the remaining shareholders before the buy-out which would use almost all the distributable profit for that.

The company's distributable profit amounts to EUR 8.4 million, including EUR 6.5 million of last year's profit.

MHP holding, acting through its Cypriot affiliate Hemiak Investments, acquired Perutnina Ptuj from steel group SIJ in February, when the Competition Protection Agency cleared the takeover, with the takeover bid estimated at EUR 176.30 million.

The new majority owner then acquired 6.68% of remaining shares in May, allocating additional EUR 20 million for that.