The Erste Plavi and PBZ Croatia Osiguranje mandatory pension funds and the Croatia Osiguranje insurance company are the most likely new owners of Dalekovod Professio, a company which manages some of the wind farms in Croatia, according to unofficial information confirmed by several sources, reports Jutarnji List on January 5, 2019.
For a 50 percent stake, through which Dalekovod had a share in the Eko and Velika Popina companies, they will pay 115 million kuna. The remaining 50 percent is owned by Ante Ćurković, a former director of the Croatian Electric Company (HEP), also known as the owner of the best wind farm locations in Croatia, who allegedly has no intention of selling his share.
The transaction has not yet been completed. A stock sale contract has been signed, but before the formal takeover, it is necessary to perform further due diligence and obtain approval of the Supervisory Board. It is very likely that this will be done smoothly and quickly. After the transaction is finalized, a new company should be established, which will have shares in both companies, Eko and Velika Popina.
Pension funds have decided to enter the wind farm industry because they see a good chance of making money there. The company controls two of the best wind farms in Croatia, at the most suitable locations, from which high yields are expected.
“The wind farms provide a predictable revenue stream and good returns to fund members. I think this is a reasonably good investment with little risk. It would be great if this was just one in a series of investments of pension funds in renewable energy sources and I hope there will be more opportunities in that sector,” said a source informed about the situation in Dalekovod.
Dalekovod has now finally got rid of its non-core portfolio, the wind farms for which it was unsuccessfully trying to find a buyer for years. The company even negotiated with HEP and several other potential buyers from Croatia and abroad. However, the transaction has not been realized until now. The pre-bankruptcy proceedings foresaw the sale of the wind farms.
More news on the wind farms in Croatia can be found in our Business section.
Translated from Jutarnji List (reported by Jasmina Trstenjak).
