M+ Group Raises Over 105 Million Kuna Through Secondary Public Offering of Shares

M+ Group (Meritus ulaganja d.d.) has raised over 105 million kuna in fresh capital through a secondary public offering of new shares, which saw participation from a large number of institutional investors and small investors, according to a statement. A total of 124,227 new shares were issued at a price of 850.00 kuna, making the new shareholders owners of 12.65 percent of Meritus ulaganja. In the overall structure of investors, mandatory pension funds led with 65.02 percent of the total number of new shares, voluntary pension funds subscribed 3.58 percent, investment funds 24.80 percent, insurers 2.37 percent, individuals acquired 3.83 percent of shares, while legal entities subscribed 0.40 percent of shares. The issuing and listing agent is Privredna banka Zagreb d.d.

– The great success of the secondary public offering of new shares demonstrates the market’s confidence in M+ Group as an innovative and technologically advanced company, the leading Croatian BPTO (Business Process and Technology Outsourcing – eksternalizacija poslovnih procesa i informacijskih tehnologija) company and the largest provider of BPTO services in Southeast Europe and Asia Minor. We conducted the first domestic public offering of shares in 2021 and the only offering of shares from the technology sector in the history of the domestic capital market. We are extremely pleased that the majority of existing institutional investors in M+ Group, including all four mandatory pension funds, have increased their stake in the company, which convincingly confirms their ongoing trust and support for further ambitious growth across an even broader spectrum of economic sectors. We are also pleased with a number of new institutional and small investors,” said Darko Horvat, CEO of Meritus ulaganja d.d.

M+ Group conducted its initial public offering of shares on the Zagreb Stock Exchange in August 2019, raising 93 million kuna in capital, marking the first public offering of shares by a domestic company since 2017. During the initial public offering in August 2019, the price of M+ Group shares was 260.00 kuna, and in the recently completed public offering, exactly two years later, it was 850.00 kuna, meaning the share price has more than tripled. During the same period, the value of CROBEX increased by about 2 percent.

– We are extremely pleased that M+ Group has once again decided to finance its impressive growth with capital raised through a regulated market. In developed economies, this is a logical path for financing the development cycles of companies, demonstrating that M+ Group is following trends that we hope will become commonplace in our market as well. The very high interest from investors at a significantly higher valuation than that of the initial public offering indicates that there is enough capital in Croatia to finance interesting and successful investment stories,” stated Ivana Gažić, CEO of the Zagreb Stock Exchange.

The capital raised will be used by M+ Group for growth and acquisitions in developed markets, for the infrastructure and technological equipment necessary for further business development, and to continue its strong positioning as a technological leader in the BPTO sector, capable of providing technological support to the most demanding clients in the banking and finance, telecommunications, technology, e-commerce, and logistics sectors. The capital will also be used to continue reducing debt with credit institutions. The company already has an extremely low level of indebtedness and significant cash reserves on its accounts.

– More than 105 million kuna in fresh capital, along with M+ Group’s existing high liquidity, is a strong lever for continuing our growth in developed markets, especially through co-investment with private equity and venture capital funds in dynamic and healthy companies with high growth potential. We are proud to have already made two investments under this model, one in partnership with a leading private equity fund for investments in Central Europe, Mid Europa Partners based in London, and the other with a leading venture capital fund in Southeast Europe, South Central Ventures. We will also continue to independently acquire companies that we assess will have a synergistic effect on our business and strengthen, expand, and upgrade M+ Group’s operations in line with our strategic plans,” emphasized Horvat.

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