7Mon·

Varta shares expire worthless - why not - 99.9%?

"The financial rescue of the ailing battery manufacturer Varta at the expense of the existing shareholders can go ahead.

...

"The existing Varta shareholders will go away empty-handed, their shares will become worthless. The shares will be removed from the share price "promptly", explained Varta."

I'm not invested, but I'm wondering why the shares only fell by around 50% today. Have I missed something or is the explanation simply that there were still a few idiots who bought anyway?

https://de.marketscreener.com/kurs/aktie/PORSCHE-AG-144458103/news/Ubernahme-von-Varta-perfekt-Aktien-werden-wertlos-48852824/

de.marketscreener.comÜbernahme von Varta perfekt - Aktien werden wertlos

8 Comments

OneInAMinion@OneInAMinion

7Mon

My guess is that these are the rest who have either not yet read the news or are involved in other ways and therefore can do little (e.g. employee packages - a long time ago I received shares as a bonus from a former employer, which I was not allowed/able to sell as long as I was employed by the company).

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Chandra@Chandra

7Mon

@OneInAMinion However, people who cannot sell their shares also have no influence on the share price. The price is always the purchases/sales made. But yes, presumably people who didn't read the news simply bought. However, I have no sympathy for anyone who jumps straight into a falling knife at -50% a day and doesn't even look at the reason for it.

But the management's nonsense about your employee shares. That only encourages employees to resign when it's clear to them that the company is doing badly so that they can sell their shares. (unless the shares were more of a symbolic amount - i.e. only a few 100€)
I had always heard that employee shares are blocked for 2-3 years and can then be traded. That seems to make a lot more sense.

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OneInAMinion@OneInAMinion

7Mon

@Chandra sorry, you're absolutely right, it was called a blocking period. If I had known more about it back then, well, I would have, etc.

I have a position you mentioned in my portfolio $ATO, which is just rattling down, but I just have the hope, because it was my first stock position I invested in since I recently started actively (actually only wanted to have an ETF, but then was fascinated how easy it is to buy stocks as a private investor nowadays, that in the meantime more have become than planned), that things will go up again.
It was the cheapest stock I found and I knew the name of the company.

With my luck, it will probably be a shot in the arm anyway, but at least I'll have the red flag that I should just leave it alone.

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Chandra@Chandra

7Mon

@OneInAMinion It doesn't hurt to have such a position as a memorial in the depot. It always reminds you of the mistakes you have made and that you shouldn't repeat them.
I went public in February 2022 and one of my first shares was $EVR. It fell very sharply because it is basically a Russian company and trading in it might be sanctioned. Well, I took the plunge and thought that as the company is based in London, it probably wouldn't be affected. But it was hit and now I have this corpse in my portfolio whose price won't change and which I'm not allowed to trade. Reminds me not to be too greedy and not to reach for the falling knife. 😅

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OneInAMinion@OneInAMinion

7Mon

@Chandra ahhh, that's why, because I wanted to buy Gazprom shares, now I know why that's not possible. It's weird what effects all this has 😳 I hadn't thought of anything like that...

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Legend@Zilong

7Mon

@Chandra However, you could have them booked out of the custody account without value and fill your loss pot.

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Chandra@Chandra

7Mon

@Zilong I actually hope that the company still exists and that the shares will be traded again once the war is over.

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OneInAMinion@OneInAMinion

7Mon

"Tragic" or not, with the plans of Porsche and the investor, the declared aim is at least to save the jobs... but as is often the case with takeovers, everything is usually talked up beforehand as far as the future of the company is concerned and as soon as everything is signed and sealed, it's off to the races.
My assumption in this case is different. Porsche has been looking for a way to produce its own batteries for some time, but more importantly to have an infrastructure for research with the right people. If you believe the rumors, Varta has something in the drawers, which makes the whole thing a stroke of luck for Porsche...

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