Abrakadabra was the last major project of Agrokor before the turmoil in the company.
The Abrakadabra internet store, which was supposed to become the most valuable part of the Agrokor group and the final major project launched by Ivica Todorić, is likely to be sold, reports Poslovni.hr on 19 July 2017.
According to Agrokor commissioner Ante Ramljak’s office, Abrakadabra has been declared a non-core part of the business, which means that Agrokor plans to sell it off after the summer to settle the debts of the company. To make that possible, the company is currently drafting a procedure based on the Law on Extraordinary Administration Procedure, which means that the sale of individual companies would be conducted in agreement with creditors and the Creditors’ Council.
In other words, the only obstacle standing between Abrakadabra and sale is the procedure. The interest of potential buyers is already significant. However, at this moment, Agrokor does not want to reveal who might become the new owner of the internet store. “Abrakadabra is part of the non-core Agrokor group businesses. At this point, no decision has yet been made on the sale of any company, including Abrakadabra, for which there is the interest of several potential buyers, which best demonstrates that the quality of this project has been recognised by the market,” said Ramljak’s office.
The A007 company, which operates Abrakadabra, published its financial statement for 2016 in early July. Abrakadabra last year had revenues in the amount of 22.3 million kunas. This makes it not only the fastest-growing internet store in Croatia in 2016 but also the most successful example of a launch of an online business in Croatia. Initial costs were very high, so Abrakadabra ended the year with a loss of 19 million kunas.
Ramljak’s office pointed out that Abrakadabra, although it is a non-core business, enjoyed the full support of the company. “The new funding provided to Agrokor is being used in accordance with plans, needs and the conditions under which the funding has been granted to Agrokor. Abrakadabra is in no way excluded from this,” they said.
Anita Lacmanović, director of Abrakadabra, admits that they did have certain problems due to the situation in the whole group, but emphasised that the problems have mostly been solved. “Just like other Agrokor companies, Abrakadabra had certain challenges that eventually resulted in the opening of the extraordinary administration process. Now we can say that the overall situation has stabilised and that business results are back on the upward path. We are doing business on a regular basis, restoring the trust of our suppliers and we are focused on raising the quality and optimising our business operations,” said Lacmanović.
She added that Abrakadabra exceeded its plans by 30 percent in the first quarter. Last year, she said, it became the second largest online store in Croatia, just behind E-Kupi from the M SAN group. Lacmanović stated that Abrakadabra had more than 350 suppliers and each of them was important for the overall business of Abrakadabra.
