You are here

Options and Cassoulides separate

22/11/2010 11:08
Options Cassoulides decided to sell its printing activities so as to reduce its debts and focus on the medical communication and conferences. According to an announcement released today, “the company decided to proceed with the secession of the printing sector with the sale of all subsidiaries and associated companies that are active in this sector, including all properties, plant and equipment”.

The Company is a product of merger of Options Eurocongress Ltd and J.G. Cassoulides & Sons Ltd. Their merger was announced in April 2000.

In 2008, the major shareholder, Yiannos Cassoulides, sold 29% of the company to Aspis Holdings, which currently holds 9% of Options.

Other major shareholders of Options are Pavlos Savvides (23%) and Andreas Drakos (17%).

According to the announcement, “the Company proceeded with negotiations with the managerial buyout for the sale of I.G Cassoulides & Son Ltd and its subsidiaries and associated companies”.

“The sale will have as a result the drastic decline of the banking loans and overdrafts”, it added.

In 2009, the Company’s net finance cost stood at €1.1 million.

Options accumulated losses of €5.2 million in 2009 and €4.2 million in 2008. According to the results of 2009, the only profitable activity was its printing services.

“It has been assigned to specialists the elaboration of the proposal and the methodology of its execution. The final proposal is subject to the EGM approval, which will be held for this purpose. The EGM date will be announced at a later stage”, the announcement said.

With the sale of the printing activities, the Group will focus entirely on the activities abroad, which concern:

- The offer of specialized services and specifically medical communications events to the international medical and pharmaceutical sector based in London and offices in Lausanne, New York and Dubai.

- The conduct of clinical tests on behalf of international medical and pharmaceutical companies based in Taipei and activities and offices in Seoul, Shanghai, Beijing and Singapore.

- Specialized prints that cover the wider area of Middle East.

Also, the company is the biggest shareholder of the listed company in the Alternative Market of the London Stock Exchange, Western & Oriental Plc, which is active in two sectors: the conference and events management and the luxury travel.