Grant Thornton advises CPI Group A.S.

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March 2013

CPI Group A.S.

Adviser to CPI Group A.S. on their mandatory takeover of main market listed Ablon Group Limited

£30.8 million

Grant Thornton team

Philip Secrett
Elected Partner, Grant Thornton UK

Real estate

Buy side

Public company transactions

We are delighted to have advised CPI Group A.S. on their mandatory takeover of main market listed Ablon Group Limited.

We advised CPI Group a.s. on the takeover offer for Ablon Group, a Main Market listed company on the London Stock Exchange and one of the largest real estate developers in Hungary and Central and Eastern Europe. CPI were encouraged by an external contact to get in touch with our corporate finance team, to help them navigate the transaction.

CPI Group, a limited company in the Czech Republic is owned by Mr Radovan Vitek, one of the largest investors in Czech Republic real estate with a portfolio of retail, office, logistic, residential and hotel properties and a balance sheet of approximately £2 billion.

This complex deal involved leading CPI's discussions and negotiations with Ablon and its advisers - managing the dynamics between various parties with conflicting objectives, including Ablon's board and its largest shareholder who was also its largest lender.

Ultimately, we successfully guided CPI through its first unsolicited semi- hostile mandatory takeover in the UK, a deal which it considered to be fundamental to its overall strategy. Mr Vitek's offer valued Ablon Group Limited at approximately £31 million.

testimonial

We are delighted to have worked with Grant Thornton on this transaction. We have been very pleased with the support and advice the team has given us during our mandatory cash offer for Ablon Group Limited. This was a complex transaction and, from day one, Grant Thornton provided us with high-quality commercial and regulatory advice to guide us throughout the offer process and on our negotiations with the target company and its advisers. This was our first opportunity to do such a complex transaction on the London market and we were amazed by the way they were able to brief us on important matters and steer us through the process. They were instrumental in the success of our transaction and we look forward to working with them again in the future.

Martin Němeček Investment Director, CPI Group A.S.