KTM Pulling Its Shares off the Public Market

News out of Austria says that KTM is gearing up to pull its shares off the public stock market. The move comes from a request by Cross Industries, which is run by Stefan Pierer and is the largest shareholder of KTM’s stock, with 51.4% of the shares.

With Indian motorcycle manufacturer Bajaj owning another 48%, this means the announcement only affects roughly 0.6% of KTM’s overall stock, which is floating around on the Third Market (Dritter Markt) of the Vienna Stock Exchange.

According to KTM’s press release on the issue, Cross will offer €122.50 per share for the outstanding stock, which will then make KTM officially a privately held company.

For all practical matters, this shouldn’t affect motorcycle enthusiasts too great. From a business perspective though, KTM does gain some advantages by longer being publicly traded company, namely that it will have fewer formal duties to its few stakeholders.

Since Cross Industries also intends to move WP Suspension off the public market, this means that if investors want to invest in companies like KTM, Husqvarna, and WP, they will have to do so by investing directly in Cross Industries AG, which is also listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange.

This move effective pulls together the investor futures of these collected brands, which will help diversify risk for investors, and bring more value to their investment – at least, in theory.

KTM’s Board of Directors is slated to meet on April 21st to discuss the offer officially, and there is little doubt that the Board will accept Cross’s plan to make the offer.