Japanese Daihen to Takeover Varstroj
The Japanese corporation will become a 100% owner of Varstroj 14 years after the companies started cooperating, the daily Dnevnik reports on Wednesday. OTC Daihen and Varstroj, which is based in the north-east of Slovenia, have carried out several development projects in the past.
OTC Daihen acquired nearly 12% in Varstroj in early 2013, according to Dnevnik. Another 70% was acquired from the Lendava-based Clarinos company after months of negotiations, the paper adds.
"We were looking for a strategic partner to guarantee financial stability and funds needed for future development," Varstroj boss Matjaž Vnuk told Dnevnik.
According to Vnuk, Daihen was to move to Lendava a part of its production lines and its development department for Europe.
"Now, we already buy robotic welding systems from Daihen, which creates around USD$1bn in revenue annually, and produce for them some products intended for the European market," Vnuk said.
Daihen published in the daily Večer on Wednesday its takeover plan, which is to be followu up by the Munich-based OTC Daihen Europe's submitting a takeover bit within 30 days.
Varstroj has already called a shareholders' meeting for next Monday, which will see two Japanese representatives appointed supervisors. Varstroj generated EUR 11.3m in revenue in 2012 and incurred a EUR 189,936 loss.