Based on a purchase agreement, Merkport Zrt., 95% of which is owned by BDPST Group, will be able to purchase 22.88% of Waberer’s shares from HIGH YIELD Vagyonkezelő Zrt., owned by György Wáberer.
With this, the combined share of the BDPST Group and the minority owner of Merkport Zrt. increases to 49.64%.
At the same time, this means that namesake and former CEO György Wáberer will have no shares in the company anymore. He has left the managing board as well.
The agreement enters into force after obtaining the regulatory permits; the transaction must be approved by the Hungarian National Bank and the Economic Competition Authority.
BDPST group is a capital investment company owned by the Hungarian Prime Minister’s son-in-law, István Tiborcz. The company bought its first Waberer’s stock package of 20.99% last summer.
The investment company released a statement about the purchase on Tuesday, stating that with its investment into the shares, Waberer’s can develop its business model based on state-of-the-art logistics technologies, thereby increasing its market share both in the domestic market and abroad.
According to the announcement, the change does not affect Waberer’s operations.
“Waberer’s Group’s market share, its fleet of vehicles, and the team of professionals all offer excellent foundations to be at the forefront of the changes that will define the next decade in the logistics sector in Europe,” says Tiborcz in a BDPST press release.
György Wáberer, who is a member of the board of directors of Waberer’s International, sent the following statement to the Hungarian News Agency:
“As a result of the management’s work, the company is on a new path, profitable and paying dividends to its shareholders for the first time since its introduction to the stock market”.
He added that he had fulfilled the task given to him by the trust of the shareholders and that he will part with his stake at a point when the company’s prospects are good.
New 47,000-square-metre warehouse to be built near Budapest Airport
A day before the announcement of changes in the ownership, Waberer’s revealed the building of a 47,000-square-metre (more than 500,000 square feet) logistics centre near Budapest.
The warehouse, which is a HUF 18 billion (approx 48 million euros) investment, will offer automated handling of dangerous goods and services for e-commerce customers in addition to its classic warehousing portfolio. It will be built using „state-of-the-art technical and environmental solutions” and is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2024.
Image credits @ Waberer’s
Ecser (a village in the Budapest metropolitan area) is a strategic location for the new logistics centre since it is next to the M0 highway ring and only 10 kilometres from the airport, making the place one of the most sought-after regions for commercial companies operating in Hungary.
“The construction of the warehouse in Ecser is a major milestone for the regional logistics segment. With the implementation of the project – at a cost level that ensures future competitiveness of our services – , our warehouse network near the M0 highway will be fully developed (in Páty, BILK, Ecser), which thus provides sufficient optimization opportunities for efficient management of our national and Budapest distribution and warehousing systems, and thereby also increases the logistics competitiveness of our customers. With the new investment, we will not only be able to increase our warehousing capacity, but it will also provide us the opportunity to manage ADR (dangerous goods) and ecommerce clients’ products with automated logistics solutions,” CEO Barna Zsolt commented.