Leptos in talks to buy out Aristo

TWO OF the island’s biggest developers are in negotiations over a possible takeover.According to press reports, the Leptos Group, backed by an unnamed French company, is to buy out Aristo Developers.

Earlier this week, Aristo secured from the Cyprus Stock Exchange a second day of suspension of its shares pending the outcome of intense negotiations aimed at finalising the takeover bid now in progress on the group.

According to the Financial Mirror, the bid is for 100 per cent of the company and has to be all-out cash.

The Aristodimou family controls a little over 50 per cent of the CSE-listed Aristo, with the Elma Group controlling another 25 per cent. The remaining 25 per cent is spread among the public.
The price at which negotiations are being held is reported to be between 90 and 100 cents per share, with the buyer reportedly backed by a Cypriot bank, which in turn is acting on behalf of a foreign financial institution willing to provide a bank guarantee. Local press reports have put the total figure somewhere in the region of £300 million.Aristo own £200 million worth of properties and are reported to have secured permits for the development of three golf courses.

A spokesman for Leptos yesterday told the Mail that he couldn’t make any official comment but did add that, “should these reports turn out to be true, it will be beneficial to the whole island as a large part of the property market will remain in Cypriot hands.”

Traditionally, the two companies have been the major players in the Paphos area with any possible takeover likely to leave competitors trailing in their wake.

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