Financial market regulator in Slovakia, the Financial Market Office (UFT) has issued a preliminary injunction ordering Bratislava Stock Exchange (BCPB) to suspend the settlement of a transaction transferring a package of 202,000 shares of crude-oil refinery Slovnaft at SKK 1,541 on the BCPB floor for 30 days after receipt of this injunction. The UFT delivered this injunction to the BCPB on Tuesday, UFT spokesman Marek Kacmar informed SITA.

Originally, the BCPB decided on March 22 to halt settlement of the transaction of March 20. The transaction should have been suspended until April 22, however, the transaction was to be settled on April 23, when the 30-day suspension period elapsed.

The UFT rejected the share price offer submitted by Hungarian oil company MOL in the public takeover bid for Slovnaft shares. The UFT decision became effective on Tuesday, April 8. UFT turned down MOL’s proposal of SKK 1,200 per Slovnaft share because it was at odds with the Securities Act, which sets terms for the offered price of shares in a mandatory takeover bid.

In line with the Securities Act, the offered share price in the mandatory takeover bid cannot be lower than the average price reached on the stock exchange for the last six months before acquisition of the stake on voting rights linked to securities of the corporation taken over. But MOL, in calculating the average price for the past six months, did not consider the transaction from March 20, when about 202,000 Slovnaft shares changed hands at SKK 1,540. This transaction lifted the average price of Slovnaft shares to SKK 1,380.

MOL still believes that the transaction with 202,000 Slovnaft shares carried out on BCPB on March 20 was an attempt at price manipulation and, therefore, UFT cannot decide on the draft bid before the transaction’s examination.

MOL is obliged to announce a public takeover bid for Slovnaft shares since its share in all voting rights related to the company exceeded 66 percent after it acquired 31.6 percent of Slovnaft shares on March 27.