In the purchase agreement that was presented today, it also appears that the total price tag for the municipality will land at around SEK 31 million. The municipality will buy Vattenborgen for “about 26 million kroner” – and there are planned investments and renovations for up to five million kroner.
The agreement also states that the purchase will take place in the form of a company acquisition, at the seller’s request. This means that the municipality will then buy all the shares in Stenhusen Vattenborgen AB, which owns the property today.
– There is so much that is unclear, and we still want the whole deal to be reviewed. But unfortunately it feels like this deal should be pushed through at all costs, says Sandra Bizzozero (S), opposition councillor.
The debts are deducted from the final price
The company currently has debts of just over SEK 10 million, but according to the agreement the debts will be settled in connection with the deal, which means that the municipality is not expected to pay more than the agreed SEK 26 million.
But the fact that the purchase takes place in the form of a company acquisition is met with criticism from the opposition.
– It is difficult to see if it is a clean company, if the entire audit has been done so that there are no latent tax disputes or the like. For us it would have been better and cleaner to make a pure property acquisition, says Sandra Bizzozero (S).
– There is more secrecy when dealing with companies and there are sums that are not visible to us as decision-makers and to the municipal residents. This whole process has gone completely backwards, says Magnus Larsson (C), group leader.
Lacks a long-term plan
The opposition also wants to know what happens to the company after it has been acquired.
– There is no long-term plan for what Karlskrona municipality will do with this company when it is acquired. Should it be the case that we want to liquidate this company and not have it in the municipality, then there would be an additional five to six million in costs with taxes and the like, so there are many question marks, says Sandra Bizzozero (S), opposition councillor.