For ideological reasons, the Spanish government does not allow the Hungarian takeover deal of the century, so the Spanish small shareholders are not only taking the government's decision to the Spanish court, but are also considering filing a complaint with the European Court of Justice.
Citing strategic interests and national security reasons, the Spanish Council of Ministers on Tuesday rejected the purchase of the Talgo train manufacturer by the Hungarian Ganz-MaVag - the Spanish Ministry of Economy announced the decision made at the cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
"The detailed analysis carried out established that the authorization of this operation would involve insurmountable national security and public order risks"
- said the ministry in its announcement sent to MTI.
He emphasized that Talgo is a strategic company in a sector that is key to the security of the economy, territorial cohesion and the industrial development of Spain.
According to the statement, the Spanish government made its decision based on the opinion of the interdepartmental Foreign Investment Council. He added: the government declared the report on this matter classified information.
The Spanish Ministry of Economy emphasized that the refusal of the permit is done by applying the Spanish regulations in force on the control of foreign investments, respecting Community law and the powers of the European Union regarding foreign direct investments, the protection of the internal market and the free movement of capital.
The Spanish association of minority shareholders of companies listed on the stock exchange, AEMEC, immediately announced that it would take the case to court, VG reports.
The association is filing both civil and criminal lawsuits to recover damages suffered by Talgo's more than 8,000 shareholders.
Talgo's share price fell almost 9 percent in the afternoon after the news, now standing at 3.92 euros, while Ganz-MaVag offered 5 euros per share.
The Spanish papers claim that if Hungary turns to the European Court of Justice in the matter, it will surely be right, even if Madrid is ideologically closer to it than Budapest, Mandiner wrote .
At the beginning of March, the Hungarian Ganz-MaVag Europe Zrt. made an official public purchase offer worth 619 million euros for the Spanish Talgo, for 5 euros per share, in exchange for acquiring at least 50 percent plus 1 share in the company. The company's shareholders supported the acceptance of the offer.
The Basque daily newspaper El Correo aired the expected government decision already on Tuesday morning, as a result of which the Spanish Stock Exchange Supervisory Authority (CNMV) suspended the trading of Talgo's shares for several hours due to the uncertain situation.
Photo: Talgo
