Herzogenaurach (Germany), Jun 02: Puma, the German maker of sportswear and equipment, said today that its biggest shareholder, the Dutch Monarchy/Regency group, had sold its entire 39.17-percent stake in the company via the open market. Goldman Sachs had placed all of the shares held by Monarchy/Regency and its subsidiaries "via an accelerated bookbuilding offering", Puma said in a statement.

The final price of the shares would be determined during the bookbuilding process.

But with some 6.7 million shares being offered, the value of the transaction would be around 585 million Euros (684 million dollars) based on the price of Puma shares today.

Rotterdam-based Monarchy enterprise is a company that produces film and television series. It first took a stake in Puma in 1996 and has gradually increased its holdings, both direct and indirect, ever since.

Puma and Monarchy have an advertising contract, whereby Puma products are promoted in films produced by Monarchy that runs until 2008. That agreement would be upheld, despite the decision by Monarchy to sell its Puma stake, a Puma spokesman said.

Monarchy did not immediately say why it had decided to sell, but traders said it was looking to take profit on its holdings in view of the strong rise in Puma shares recently.

Bureau Report