Cyprus Trading Corporation increases stake in Ermes Department Stores

Cyprus Trading Corporation (CTC) has increased its direct shareholding in Ermes Department Stores Plc to 86.275% following the conclusion of a mandatory takeover bid. The offer period ended on July 13, with shareholders tendering 15,810,257 shares at a price of €0.014 per share, totaling approximately €221,344. Prior to this, CTC held 77.215% of the company, and the successful bid results in a new total of 150,550,304 shares. The acquisition includes 1,026,128 shares from persons acting in concert with CTC, representing 0.588% of the issued share capital. While the bid is deemed successful under Article 10(1) of the Cyprus Takeover Bids Law due to CTC holding over 50% of voting rights, the current stake remains below the 90% threshold required to trigger squeeze-out rights. CTC initially launched the mandatory bid on April 2 after acquiring 17.5 million shares from Department Stores Realisations Limited. The company noted that these figures are preliminary and subject to final verification of transfer forms. Any applications containing errors or missing information may be rejected during the final audit.