23 April 1998: The protracted privatisation of Ikarus, the Hungarian busmaker, was finalised recently with management buy-out company MT-Liz taking a 54% stake in the company from APV, the state priva…
23 April 1998: The protracted privatisation of Ikarus, the Hungarian busmaker, was finalised recently with management buy-out company MT-Liz taking a 54% stake in the company from APV, the state privatisation company, for a nominal HFt 10 million. The new owners have reportedly undertaken to pay off almost HFt 5 billion (US$ 24 million) in debts to the state and ABN Amro Bank within 15 days and provide guarantees for another HFt 2.25 billion of longer term debts. Ikarus has seen production slump from 14,000 buses a year in the mid-1980“s to a nadir of 800 in 1996. Since then, under the management of Gabor Szeles, the company has begun to turn around, with 1,800 buses produced last year and a similar number expected this year, mostly for the former Soviet Union and other ex-socialist countries. In its latest deal, Ikarus has begun to supply 100 buses to the Slovak city of Bratislava financed by a DM 22 million (US$ 12.2 million) loan syndicated by BNP-Dresdner Bank.