London Forfaiting bought for 29.5p a share

First International Merchant Bank plc yesterday announced the successful acquisition of London Forfaiting Company plc.

FIMBank plans to restructure London Forfaiting to return the company to profitability by emphasising London Forfaiting's core activities and working towards a sustainable cost base.

The company will be reducing the number of employees and moving the administration and operations of the company to Malta, where there are lower labour costs and more efficiency.

London Forfaiting was formed in 1984 and provides financial services in connection with international trade through a worldwide network of offices. It is an established participant in the global forfaiting market.

The executive vice-president of FIMBank, Margrith Lutschg-Emmenegger gave shareholders an overview of the events leading to the acquisition of the company.

She said that on October 3, London Forfaiting will cease to be a listed company and there would be no publicly traded market for London Forfaiting shares.

FIMBank (UK), a company formed purposely to buy London Forfaiting, would pay 29.5p for each London Forfaiting share.

As at September 4, FIMBank (UK) paid £23.8 million for the 77.1 per cent of the London Forfaiting shares it acquired.

Any further London Forfaiting shares acquired by FIMBank (UK) are being paid for in cash by FIMBank (UK) at 29.5p for each share. The entire share capital of London Forfaiting is valued at £30.9 million.

Ms Lutschg-Emmenegger said the FIMBank board had approved a number of strategic measures intended to optimise FIMBank's existing strengths, resources and value by diversifying its business with regard to markets, products and regions.

One important component of this strategy was to increase the product range offered by FIMBank in order to diversify its revenue.