Fragiolig Holdings is the bidder for central European property investor Atlas Estates.

The Atlas board has not reacted to the formal offer.

Cyprus-incorporated Fragiolig has launched a 90p a share cash bid for AIM-quoted Atlas, which values the company at £42.17m. That is less than half the money raised when Atlas floated on AIM at 341p a share in February 2006.

The net asset value of Atlas was €2.42 a share at the end of 2009, down from €3.68 a share a year earlier.

Fragiolig is owned by Israel-based Izaki Group, which owns nearly 14% of Atlas. Fragiolig recently bought a 7.1% stake in Atlas at 90p a share. Other shareholders acting in concert with Fragiolig and Izaki take the effective concert party stake in Atlas to nearly 33%. Shareholders owning 6.62% of Atlas have also agreed to accept the bid.

AIM-quoted Livermore Investments owns 21.71% of Atlas. The vast majority of the stake was bought for 277.5p a share and 353p a share at the end of 2007. In May, 2008, Livermore acquired 360,000 shares in Atlas at an average price of 225p a share. This suggests that Livermore could make a substantial loss at the bid price.

Fragiolig points to the high debt levels at Atlas - €260m at the end of 2009 - and the timing of disposals that could reduce that debt is uncertain.

Fragiolig believes that the bid provides a good opportunity for shareholders to realise their investment in Atlas.

Related share prices
Livermore Investments Group Ltd. (LIV) share price
Atlas Estates Ltd. (ATLS) share price