Kofola and Pivovarna Laško achieved an important milestone in the acquisition process of Radenska. After long negotiations, both parties signed sales and purchase agreement (SPA) to purchase 75,24% of share in the company Radenska. This means that the big step was made in order to succesfully finalize the transaction process and that Kofola together with Slovene family Polič will become the new owner of the company. There are still conditions to be fullfilled on both sides. Closing of the sale process can be expected at the beginning of next year. With the sale of Radenska, Laško Group fulfills it’s commitment to creditor banks based on The Restructuring and Standstill Agreement. Kofola will pay 13,59 EUR per share of Radenska.
The sales process of the company Radenska started according to The Restructuring and Standstill Agreement on September 1st 2013. The process of selling the share in Radenska was carried out in a transparent international two-stage process of competitive bidding, in which more than 50 domestic and foreign potential investors were invited and more than 5 unbinding offers were submitted. »We strongly believe that we are a strategic buyer for Radenska with a lot of experience in producing and selling beverages. We are a healthy company with a strong balance sheet. We in Kofola love local brands and their stories, so we are convinced that we can bring Radenska back to a leading position where it used to be in countries of former state,« said Jannis Samaras, general director of Kofola. Even though the SPA was only signed between Kofola and Pivovarna Laško, family Polič is an integral part of the consortium and will step into the deal at the beginnig of the next year. The shares will remain 60% for Kofola and 40% for P&P.
The transaction process was highly competitive from the very beginning and it was a tough transaction negotation. »The transaction process has been profesionally managed by Pivovarna Laško and it’s advisors from Unicredit Bank. There are still conditions to be fullfilled before closing the deal and taking over Radenska by the consortium. Today, we reached important milestone and we are convinced that the proces will be finalized at the beginning of next year,« said Jakub Dyba from transaction advisory company Genesia.
»With the sale of Radenska, Laško Group continues to fullfill the conditions in the The Restructuring and Standstill Agreement. When seeking for the investor, we didn’t only look our for the price, but also the concern for development of brand Radenska. I’m convinced that Kofola is reliable and longterm partner to Radenska, and they’re aware of their responsibility for the future of the company, their development and meaning for the local community,« said mag. Dušan Zorko, CEO of Pivovarna Laško. He added that the whole amount of the money, they will get for selling Radenska, will be intended to pay obligations of Pivovarna Laško.
Director of Radenska, Milan Hojnik stated: The sales process of Radenska was transparent. Primary goal was to find strategic partner, that will develop Radenska brand in a longterm way. Company Kofola was willing to commit to this, so the management board of Radenska support selling the ownership share in Radenska from Pivovarna Laško to company Kofola''
When all the conditions from both sides will be fullfiled, the sale will be closed. After the sale of 75,24 % of Radenska, Kofola will have to submit public offer for the rest of the Radenska’s shares.
Kofola is a leading manufacturer of non-alcoholic beverages in Central Europe. It only uses high quality ingredients and their most important mission is innovation towards healthier products. This also means that they invest significant part of their turnover in product development and new technologies on all the markets, where they operate. »As much as we value local brands, we also value local people and the employees in our companies. Kofola has always supported and respected employees and has always offered to skilled and hard-working people interesting work in a homelike atmosphere,« said Jannis Samaras.
