The Latest Investment in Rimac Group is the Largest Single Capital Increase of Any Croatian Company

The news of the largest investment in Rimac Group to date, which officially granted it the status of the second Croatian unicorn with a market valuation exceeding two billion euros, has resonated strongly in business circles. This involves 500 million euros that Rimac Group raised in a Series D investment round, with new investors being the reputable global financial players SoftBank and Goldman Sachs.

A month ago, this announcement was preceded by news that the Italian investment fund Investindustrial is investing a total of 120 million euros in Rimac Group across several funding rounds, and this amount includes the fund’s participation in this investment round. So far, Mate Rimac’s company has raised around 320 million euros from various investors, including Camel Group, Porsche, KIA, and Hyundai in several funding rounds.

The latest investment is larger than all previous investments and has doubled the market valuation of Rimac’s company. It is the largest investment in any Croatian company, let alone a startup.

– As far as I remember, this is the largest single capital increase of any Croatian firm. It is special considering the caliber of the investors. Due to the pedigree of the investors, Rimac’s attractiveness is increasing, as is Croatia’s as an investment destination. I think many are not aware of how much Croatia has progressed in the eyes of investors. Primarily due to the stability and increasingly well-organized business environment and a series of attractive entrepreneurial stories, such as this one from Rimac – says consultant and M&A expert Željko Perić.

The amount of 500 million dollars was also received at the end of the year in the second round of external financing by the first Croatian unicorn Infobip. However, in that case, it was a loan secured by credit funds managed by Ares Management Corporation and BlackRock, rather than an equity investment. Previously, Infobip attracted a capital investment from One Equity Partners amounting to 300 million euros.

– This investment in Rimac Group can be compared to the exciting and valuable endeavor of Infobip. There are other commendable, but significantly smaller successes. It is evident that serious investors, after conducting due diligence, realize that what Rimac is developing has great potential. We cannot see it from the outside, but we must be happy that something like this exists in Croatia – emphasizes Perić.

In any case, this is one of the largest investments in Croatian companies overall. There are few acquisitions whose value was higher, such as last year’s sale of Ledo for which, including Ledo Čitluk and Frikom and several smaller related companies, Nomad Food Limiteds allocated 615 million euros.

The latest investment attracted by Rimac is comparable to one of the largest acquisitions in Croatian corporate history when Agrokor of Ivica Todorić acquired Mercator for a total of 550 million euros, which in 2014 was marked as the ‘deal of the decade’. For a similar amount, 505 million euros, the tobacco giant BAT acquired TDR from the Adris group, which is also considered one of the largest acquisitions in our country.

In comparison, many notable transactions of large Croatian companies were counted in significantly smaller amounts, such as Lactalis for Dukat in 2012, which allocated 280 million euros, considered a huge deal. Atlantic Group acquired Droga Kolinska for 382 million euros, and Adris group allocated 222.8 million euros for the hotel company HUP Zagreb.

When it comes to the technology sector and startups, besides Rimac and Infobip, the acquisition of Nanobit, a domestic mobile game development studio that became part of the Swedish Stillfront group, attracted the most attention. The value of the transaction ultimately amounted to around 130 million euros.