Queiroz Pereira family to ask CMVM to investigate Maxyield

The Queiroz Pereira family and Maxyield got into a war of statements because of Semapa’s takeover bid. After the investors association argued that Sodim could not buy shares after the offer, a possibility provided for in the prospectus approved by the CMVM, the response came this Tuesday. Sodim, BCP and Caixa BI accused Maxyield of “misleading investors” and will complain to the regulator.

“The statement and Maxyield’s behaviour is likely to mislead investors, conditioning them in their freedom of decision regarding the sale of Semapa shares, objectively damaging the free functioning of the market and the defence of minority shareholders’ interests,” the signatories argue.

The day before, after the results of the takeover bid were announced, in which Sodim increased its holding in Semapa to 82.75% of the voting rights, falling short of the 90% target, Maxyield issued a highly critical statement, considering illegal the possibility of the Queiroz Pereira family holding company continuing to buy shares at the takeover bid price in the following days.

“Sodim continues to make the mistake of persisting in a price that is much lower than Semapa’s real value, which will seriously affect its relations with the capital market, as it intends to resort to an illegal “extension” to acquire Semapa shares, in an attempt to obtain what it did not achieve within the Offer period,” Maxyield argued. “This violates the legal rules in force and a violation of the Securities Code,” it added.

A thesis that Sodim and the banks advising it on the transaction oppose. The signatories “reaffirm the legality of all acts performed by them, duly supervised and sanctioned by the CMVM and confirm the legality and validity of purchases of Semapa shares that will be made by Sodim between June 8 and 15 on Euronext as well as other purchases of such categories of shares that may be made in the future by Sodim, on or off the stock exchange.”

The three entities go further and accuse Maxyield of improper behaviour since the launch of the takeover bid, accusing it of releasing “a series of statements containing false, incomplete, exaggerated, biased and misleading information, to prevent a free acceptance of the Sodim voluntary takeover bid by its recipients”.

Sofim, BCP and Caixa BI will therefore ask “the CMVM to carry out the necessary and relevant investigations to ascertain the impact of these actions”. And they reserve the right “to act against this entity and its leaders to defend their rights and good name.”

Also, Maxyield has asked the stock exchange supervisor to intervene. “Maxyield – Clube dos Pequenos Acionistas believes that immediate intervention by the Securities and Exchange Commission is necessary to put an end to an act of violation of the Securities Code by Sodim,” the statement said. “Maxyield also informs the capital market that any actions by Sodim’s financial intermediaries promoting the purchase of Semapa shares will be held judicially responsible and will alert the Bank of Portugal to its illegality.”

The result of the takeover bid, which took place between April 27 and June 4, was known on Monday. Sodim got 28% of the shares targeted in the takeover bid, equivalent to 7.88% of the capital and 8% of the voting rights. It bought an additional 1.57% in the market, bringing its total stake in Semapa to 82.75% of the voting rights.