The study “Proposal for the Strategy and Model of Privatization of Liburnia Riviera Hotels d.d. (LRH)”, prepared by Prudens consulting d.o.o. from Opatija, which proposes the privatization of the company including employee shareholding, was accepted today by the Opatija City Council.
Opatija Mayor Amir Muzur assessed that the city administration must remain active regarding the privatization of LRH as it has been and propose solutions. According to the proposed strategy, these solutions include retaining the company Nova Liburnija d.o.o., which manages a package of 25 percent of shares owned by the city administration, and continuing negotiations with the state for the transfer of shares to employees in several possible variants. In the concluding considerations of the “Proposal for the Strategy and Model of Privatization of LRH”, it was assessed that optimal participation of the Opatija side in further privatization could be carried out in several phases.
The first phase is to increase the share and influence through favorable acquisition of the maximum number of shares in the ESOP program and granting priority to employees for the purchase of shares, for which half of the current share of the Croatian Privatization Fund (HFP) is foreseen, or up to 29 percent. The second phase is the establishment of Opatija Investment Company d.d., whose shares would be on the market and available to investors, and the third is the preparation of an international tender and selection of a partner for hotel management among global hotel chains. HFP, the City of Opatija, and the Management of LRH signed an Agreement last year for the transfer of 25 percent plus one share of LRH to the City of Opatija, which stipulated that LRH would acquire ownership of part of the real estate it uses, which was the subject of a court dispute.
