Croatian Atlantic Group bought Droga Kolinska for EUR 382m

Croatian Atlantic Group has won the competition for acquisition of Droga Kolinska and it will become a new majority owner of the largest Slovenian food company.

The transaction is worth total of 382 million euros, about 150m of which are the debts of Droga Kolinska.

Atlantic will finance this takeover from its own funds and the loans granted by UniCredit and Raiffeisen Group. In that way, in spite of negative forecasts, the biggest Croatian takeover of a company in Slovenia ever has been successfully completed after all.

In addition to three global private equity funds, Atlantic Group was the only strategic bidder that entered the second round, and the sources familiar with the process claim that that was the reason why it won the competition.

Namely, it is assessed that the funds would divide Droga Kolinska into several parts, while Atlantic has no such intention, at least judging by its earlier statements.

Besides, the offered price is more than satisfying because the estimates at the beginning of the process were that the transaction is worth between 300 and 350 million euros, and Istrabenz was forced to sell the company because of the debts of about hundred million euros that it needs to pay by the end of the year.