W.Kruk wants to buy shares to fend off Vistula bid

WARSAW, May 9 (Reuters) - Polish jeweller W.Kruk KRUK.WA wants to buy back its shares as part of a defence against a $130 hostile bid to buy two-thirds of the company by clothing retailer Vistula & Wolczanka VIST.WA, it said on Friday.

W.Kruk management said in a statement it would not recommend Vistula's 289 million zloty offer for 12.18 million shares that placed a 5.5-percent premium on the jeweller's shares.

W.Kruk said the price does not include a premium for gaining control of the company, the long-term growth prospects for Poland's luxury brand market, nor the value of its upscale clothing store chain Deni Cler.

The group also said a takeover by Vistula could push out the Kruk family, which has 28 percent of W.Kruk, hurting the company's image.

In a separate statement, the company said Wojciech Kruk, who turned a small jeweller into one of Poland's leading jewellery retailers, had proposed that the next shareholders meeting scheduled for June allows W.Kruk to buy back its own shares.

Vistula hopes a takeover of W.Kruk would help it to become Poland's equivalent of LVMH (LVMH.PA: Quote, Profile, Research), the world's leading luxury goods group.

W.Kruk shares closed down 1 percent at 23.26 zlotys, some 2 percent below Vistula's offer of 23.70 zlotys per share. (Reporting by Chris Borowski; Editing by David Cowell)