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bne October 2018 Companies & Markets I 19
bne:Deal
CEFC to sell Czech assets to its owner CITIC at just over half of book value
IntelliNews Pro
The troubled Czech-based division of Chinese conglomerate China Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) will sell its assets in Czechia to Chinese state conglomerate CITIC under the market value, daily South China Morning Post said.
The value of the deal is expected to be around €850mn, which is 44% under the €1.5bn book value of CEFC’s assets in May, South China Morning Post said, citing two sources familiar with the deal.
The Czech watchdog officially approved a takeover of CEFC by CITIC in June after CEFC had problems paying back creditors. “The whole transaction is being finalised. The deal concerns only assets directly owned by CEFC Europe,” a source familiar with the deal told the Czech News Agency.
This would exclude shares in Travel Service, an airline that owns the flag carrier Czech Airlines, brewery group Lobkowicz and broadcaster and publisher Empresa Media.
If the deal gets through, CEFC’s assets will be under the control of the Chinese Ministry of Finance. According to Cyrrus analyst Lukas Kovanda, CITIC will either sell most of the assets
because it is too diversified, or keep them and continue with deals in Czechia but change the strategy totally.
In 2015, CEFC bought a series of medium-sized Czech and Slovak assets in something of a frenzy, though it largely slipped back behind the scenes after that.
CEFC Europe assets in Czechia comprise first division football club Slavia Prague, hotels and office buildings. The proper- ties include hotels Mandarin Oriental Prague in the heart
of Prague and Le Palais Art Hotel Prague in the upmarket Vinohrady quarter. Moreover, the company owns the former Zivnobanka building in the centre of Prague and the Czech capital’s Florentinum office complex along with a newly reconstructed building close by.
Its investment drive was promoted by Czech President Milos Zeman and his inner circle, who were keen to deal with Beijing.
Now, the implosion of CEFC Europe has raised concerns over how stable and beneficial Chinese investments are for Czechia and whether they are merely a political tool to increase Chinese influence in Czechia.
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Avast to enter London bourse in bid to raise up to $1bn Jaroslav Hroch in Prague
Avast, which owns the popular consumer antivirus company AVG, will apply to list its shares on the London Stock Exchange in the hope of raising $200mn (CZK4.1bn) in primary proceeds from an IPO, the Czech-founded company announced on April 12.
See page 2
St Petersburg's start-up scene flourishes on high talent and low costs
Contents
Avast to enter London bourse
in bid to raise up to $1bn 1 Avast to enter London bourse in bid to raise up to $1bn 2 St Petersburg's start-up scene
flourishes on high talent and low costs 3 Romania entrepreneur aims to put home-grown UAV defence technology industry on the map 6
FinTech
Russia's mobile major MTS increases stake in Ozon to 16.7% 9
Blockchain
Romanian startups at the heart
of blockchain energy trading rally 10
Central Europe
Russian-Lithuanian startup Gosu.ai
raises $1.9mn from Russian and
French investors 13
Eurasia
Iran hit by cyber attack that left US
flag on screens 14 Iranian government set to block hugely popular Telegram messaging app 15 Iran's black market phone disconnection drive pushes up legal mobile imports 15
Eastern Europe
Internet catches up with TV on Russian
ad market 17 Sales of connected appliances jump
in Russia 17 Russia's HeadHunter Group seeks
to raise $250mn with NASDAQ IPO 18 Russia ranks second in the world
for digital piracy 18 Russian messaging service Telegram raised another $850mn with ICO 19
Southeast Europe
Russia's HeadHunter Group seeks
to raise $250mn with NASDAQ IPO 20
The Regions This Month 21
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