And the guessing game starts now.
Podravka seems to be the most interesting among a number of companies being mentioned in relation to the sale of the state’s shares in them. Some potential buyers have already publicly stated their interest in the company. But, a source from the government said that this would not happen soon, as they see a great potential in the Koprivnica-based company through which the government can utilize a closer relationship with the local farmers and the food processing industry. Besides, there is a significant number of companies from which it can quickly make a quite big profit. For example, just the company called Državne Nekretnine (State-Owned Properties) can bring over a billion kuna, reports Večernji List on May 2, 2016.
The information that Franck was interested in the state shares in Podravka was not officially commented on by Franck. They only said that selling the state’s shares in companies was a good business decision. In the meantime, sources close to Franck said that all the options were possible regarding potential partners with whom they would take over the shares. But they are not the only ones that would like to get a stake in Podravka. The wish of the pension funds is to increase their stake in the company from Koprivnica, and they have discussed this already a few times with the government, the State Office for State Property Management (DUUDI) and last week with Finance Minister Zdravko Marić. Even if the stake in Podravka was to be sold, it would go to the highest bidder. The aim is to sell to “those who can play an international game”, a source said.
Meanwhile, besides the Maestral and Imperial hotels, for which a tender will open next week, a stake in Sunčani Hvar will be offered next. The state has a 32.35 percent share in it, and it can quickly get a significant amount of money. Selling the stake in Končar will probably not go so fast, because more than one half of the shares owned by state are under mortgage. The state would reportedly also consider selling its stake in Croatia Osiguranje (Croatia Insurance), but there are no interested parties as of yet. It is in the state’s interest to quickly sell its part in 450 companies in which it has smaller stakes, and it will start with RIZ on Monday.
The nominal value of these companies is 2.7 billion kuna, and they have been accumulating losses. The same is true for Petrokemija, for which the PPD company has submitted the binding offer. During the recent visit of a Turkish delegation to Croatia, one Turkish investor has also expressed a serious interest to invest into Petrokemija.
