Page 98 - bne IntelliNews SE Outlook Regions 2024

The €535mn project is co-funded by the EU with a €179.5mn grant under Croatia’s recovery and resilience plan. The rest of the investment will come from P3M’s own funds.
The project includes research, development and production of fully autonomous electric vehicles, supporting infrastructure and a software platform. It is part of a wider urban mobility project in the Croatian capital Zagreb.
At the end of 2023, Fortenova Group TopCo BV, a Dutch holding company that is the umbrella owner of Fortenova Group d.d. in Croatia and the region, decided to carry out a transaction that would change the ownership structure, excluding sanctioned shareholders. The agreement should complete Fortenova’s ownership restructuring, excluding SBK Art, owned by Russia’s Sberbank, which holds a 43.4% stake.
Fortenova was formed from the restructuring of Agrokor, following a settlement with creditors of the troubled group. With operations in food production, retail and agriculture employing more than 45,000 people, it is the largest private employer in the Southeast Europe region.
The Dutch umbrella holding company has reached an agreement with Open Pass Ltd., the largest unsanctioned shareholder (depository holder in the Fortenova STAK) of the Fortenova Group, which should result in a new ownership structure in which there will no longer be sanctioned co-owners.
The agreement relates to the sale and transfer of 100% of the stake held by Fortenova Group TopCo BV in Fortenova Group MidCo BV to the newly established Dutch corporate structure, consisting of the Dutch foundation Iter STAK Stichting and the Dutch company Iter BidCo BV, for an amount that can total up to €660mn, the company said in the press release.
Current equity holders that are not sanctioned due to the Russian aggression on Ukraine will be able to either transfer their stake to the new BidCo or, by opting to provide an additional investment at their own discretion, increase their ownership stake or elect to cash out and exit the ownership structure.
The new ownership structure will depend on the interest of the current non-sanctioned depositary receipt holders in additional equity investments.
Meanwhile, in November, Fortenova, which owns Slovenian retailer Mercator, has emerged as the buyer of another retail chain in Slovenia worth €30mn. The acquisition is yet to be approved by the Agency for the Protection of Competition due to the substantial market shares held by both Mercator and Tus.
The acquisition is expected to see Fortenova taking over the retail sales operations of Engrotus and the wholesale sales of Cash & Carry, while the Tus family will retain ownership of the drugstores.
98 SE Outlook 2024 www.intellinews.com