Steelmaker Schmolz+Bickenbach jumps after family sells stake

Swiss Steel Holding AG

07/01/2020 11:47

** Schmolz+Bickenbach  STLN.S  up as much as 35% after the
German descendants of the struggling steelmaker's founders
unloaded their minority stake to Swiss billionaire Martin
Haefner
    ** Haefner, the scion of a Swiss automobile dealership
family, is set to hold nearly 50% of the steelmaker, which
analysts from Zuercher Kantonalbank say "clears up relationships
in the shareholder structure, which is positive"
    ** Haefner's move leaves Russian billionaire oligarch Viktor
Vekselberg's financial vehicle Liwet with about 25% of the
steelmaker, which had to be rescued early last month amid
falling demand from customers including the German car industry
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    ** In late 2019, Schmolz+Bickenbach was the subject of a
power struggle between Vekselberg's Liwet and Haefner's BigPoint
Holding, before the two sides agreed to a deal that cleared the
way for a roughly 325 million Swiss franc ($335 million) capital
hike  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N28C4E8
    ** By 1132 GMT, Schmolz+Bickenbach are up 23% at 0.345 Swiss
francs, after closing at 0.2675 Swiss francs on Monday. The
shares are now a penny stock after shedding two thirds of their
value since the middle of 2015. 
    ** "Martin Haefner will hold a stake of 49.6% after the
conclusion of the transactions, giving him a significantly
stronger position than Liwet which will have about 25% of the
share capital," Zuercher Kantonalbank's Philipp Gamper writes
    ** Gamper adds that "the difficult business situation makes
an engagement in Schmolz+Bickenbach suitable for investors with
a big appetite for risk"

($1 = 0.9711 Swiss francs)

 (RM://j.miller.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)