Romania-Austrian Consortium TFG – Donau Finanz Pulls Out Of CFR Marfa Privatization

The consortium said in a press release it has mobilized significant resources to take part in the privatization process but was denied any extension it required to conduct its own evaluation of CFR Marfa before submitting a binding bid.

Earlier this week, U.S. company OmniTRAX whose documents to participate in the sale of CFR Marfa were recently rejected by the Transport Ministry, contested the privatization procedure and asked for the process to be resumed.

OmniTRAX also complained that the company”s privatization calendar did not give investors the chance to file reasoned offers, as bidders had only a week to audit over 10,000 documents and didn”t have access to all CFR Marfa”s documents, including balance sheets.

The only bidder left in the privatization process is Romania”s Grup Feroviar Roman (GFR), owned by businessman Gruia Stoica.

In its latest letter of intent to the International Monetary Fund, Romania pledged to select a buyer for CFR Marfa on June 21, while highlighting that the completion of the transaction depends on meeting all requirements included in the privatization contract.

The auction price for CFR Marfa starts at 798.05 million lei (a little over EUR180 million).