Hungary to transfer MOL and Richter stakes to university

Richter Gedeon Vegyeszeti Gyar Nyrt

12/02/2019 10:00

BUDAPEST, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Hungary's government will
bestow state stakes in two blue-chip companies worth a total of
380 billion forints ($1.34 billion), on the Corvinus economic
university in Budapest, daily paper Magyar Hirlap reported on
Tuesday.
    The stakes, 10 percent each in oil and gas group MOL
 MOLB.BU  and drugmaker Richter  GDRB.BU , will be transferred
to the Maecenas Universitatis Corvini foundation, which will be
barred from selling or short-selling the stock.
    Richter shares were up 0.5 percent higher at 5,575 forints
by 0936 GMT, while MOL shares was flat at 3,156 forints. The
Hungarian blue-chip  .BUX  index gained 0.5 percent.
    Corvinus is a public university that, like most other
colleges, is allocated an annual budget by the state, but that
will funding will now be replaced by dividend revenue from the
Richter and MOL holdings.
    Hungary's government has held a 25 percent stake in Richter
and MOL. The 10 percent stakes to be transferred to the
university had a combined 2018 dividend value of about 10
billion forints, Innovation Minister Laszlo Palkovics told news
website Portfolio.hu.
    The new strategy will be used to transform funding of
several other higher education institutions in a similar way,
Magyar Hirlap reported without naming its sources.
    Richter spokeswoman Zsuzsa Beke told Portfolio.hu that the
company considered the move a positive stakeholder action and an
innovative initiative.
    An MOL spokesman was not immediately available for comment.
    Erste Bank analysts said in a note to clients on Tuesday
that the transaction, because the stakes are barred from being
traded, reduces the likelihood of a third-party takeover and has
no impact on the share price.

 (Reporting by Marton Dunai
Editing by David Goodman)
 ((marton.dunai@tr.com; +36-30-952-7878 (Cell/Signal); https://reut.rs/2OXGXbW
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