In accordance with an agreement achieved between the FNM (national privatization agency) and printing house Danubiaprint, the FNM regained control over 76.54 percent of shares of the largest newspaper distributor PNS in early March.
Danubiaprint director and chairman of board of directors Stanislav Srník and his advisor Edita Bukovská signed the agreement on behalf of Danubiaprint on April 1, an FNM representative said.
The FNM withdrew from the purchase contract with Danubiaprint in early February, following a ruling of the Antitrust Bureau on the ban of the take-over of PNS by Danubiaprint. Danubiaprint appealed the verdict in court. On March 11, the Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic put on hold the execution of the verdict.
In February 1998, the national privatization agency FNM sold a 97% stake (88,846 shares) in PNS to Danubiaprint, which prints most of the periodical press in Slovakia and publishes several newspapers, for 410 million crowns. Thus Danubiaprint was to pay 2,139 crowns for one PNS share. Last November, 20.42% of PNS share assets changed hands through RM-System Slovakia at 859 crowns per share. The buyer was Distripress, Ltd.
