After a contentious one-and-a-half-year campaign, the Czech billionaire Radovan Vítek has finally gained full control over Orco Property Group (OPG). He managed to install another supporter, Tomáš Salajka, to the board during a general meeting in Luxembourg on Tuesday. The founder of OPG, Jean Francois Ott, resigned prior to the meeting, according to a message posted on the Orco website. Kingstown, one of the company’s majority shareholders, withdrew its request to appoint Guy Shannon to the board and the meeting did not vote for Ian Cash, who was backed by another majority shareholder, Alchemy. The board now comprises Jiří Dedera, Edward Hughes, Tomáš Salajka, Radovan Vítek and Guy Wallier.
Vítek also pushed through his proposal to decrease the company’s corporate capital by lowering the value of existing shares from €2 to €1 per share. OPG’s corporate capital currently amounts to €114.5m. Alchemy increased capital in Orco Germany by buying €15m worth of shares. Kingstown, meanwhile, sold half of its shares in OPG last week, according to the daily Hospodářské noviny, decreasing its company stake from 12 percent to 7 percent. Minority shareholder Tricadia Credit Strategies offloaded its share in OPG.
