January 7 (SeeNews) - Croatia's financially strained Uljanik shipbuilding group has extended the working hours of its data room in response to high interest by potential investors, the company said on Monday.
The closing hours of the data room during work days were extended to 18:00 CET from 16:00 CET, while the opening hours remain the same -- 08:00 CET, Uljanik said in a filing with the Zagreb Stock Exchange.
You can subscribe to our M&A newsletter here
The working hours on Saturdays remain unchanged -- from 09:00 to 13:00 CET, Uljanik said.
Last month, economy minister Darko Horvat said two companies have expressed interest in entering Uljanik's data room in preparation for a possible strategic partnership.
In October, Ukraine's Smart MaritimeGroup (SMG), a unit of Smart Holding, said it is interested in cooperating withUljanik. A SMG delegation visited Croatia in October to study the experience of its shipyards and to discuss possible cooperation.
Italian shipbuilding group Fincantieri is also seen as a potential strategic partner of Uljanik. In November, Horvat said the government has received a letter of interest from Fincantieri.
The Uljanik Group is made up of two major shipyards -- Uljanik [ZSE:ULPL-R-A] and 3. Maj, along with smaller subsidiaries. The group has been in financial trouble for some time due to the adverse effects of the global financial crisis on the shipbuilding sector in general which has led to a drop in orders for new vessels.