Turisthotel May Just Be the First Target of Wealthy Tankerska Plovidba

Judging by the opposing positions of the Management of Tankerska Plovidba, led by Mario Pavić, and the current sole member of the Management of Turisthotel Meri Matešić Sičić, if the Zadar shipping company takes over the well-known Zadar hotel company after the binding offer, there will be a change in the Management, and perhaps some plans, primarily investment ones, will be revised. However, while the binding offer is ongoing, neither party wants to say anything to Lider. At least that is what Pavić informed us, while Matešić Sičić did not respond to our inquiry.

Although we do not have the business results from last year, it is evident that Tankerska Plovidba has continued to perform very well, which may, however, put it in a position to pay extra profits as it finished 2021 with 80.3 million euros in revenue (602 million kuna). This is double the minimum that a company must have to be obliged to pay that tax. An additional condition is a 20 percent higher profit than the four-year average (2018 – 2021), where Tankerska is also a serious candidate considering that in 2018 its profit amounted to 7.9 million euros (59 million kuna), and in the following years it more than doubled.

That 2018 lowers the four-year average, so if the profit last year was even higher than in previous years, the state could be happy to have Tankerska Plovidba. However, one should still be cautious with that claim as Tankerska Plovidba’s operating costs increased significantly in 2021.

It is certain, however, as we will later see in the analysis by Lider’s analyst Nikola Nikšić, that Tankerska Plovidba is an extremely liquid company, with money that must be invested somewhere. Like the Meat Industry Braća Pivac, which has been directing money into Kraševe shares for years, and recently into Podravka’s, Tankerska has realized in the last year that Turisthotel is a great target for acquisition.

Tankerska Plovidba announced on January 18 that it has acquired 14.61 percent of shares in Turisthotel. The value of those shares was 88 million euros. Considering that in the second half of last year it started a campaign to buy Turisthotel shares, it already had 24.5 percent of shares at that time, and in response to Lider’s question about whether Tankerska plans to continue buying shares, Pavić replied that they stopped just short of a 25 percent stake to avoid having to send a binding takeover offer. Clearly, he did not want to talk about it, likely aware of the resistance posed by Matešić Sičić and the chairman of the Supervisory Board of Turisthotel Frane Skoblar, who is otherwise considered the main and most influential opponent of Tankerska as an owner. Nevertheless, with the latest acquisition in January, Tankerska Plovidba has acquired a total of 39.34 percent of the company.

How much its ownership stake in Turisthotel will ultimately be is expected to be known by the end of April, as the binding offer lasts 28 days from the date of publication on the Zagreb Stock Exchange and in the Narodne Novine (January 18 only created the obligation for Tankerska to make an offer, not the announcement), with the first day of the offer starting from the day after the announcement. The offer has not yet been published in the Narodne Novine, but the one published on the Zagreb Stock Exchange clearly suggests that Matešić Sičić could be counting her last days at Turisthotel if the Zadar shipping company becomes its majority owner.

The offer states that Tankerska Plovidba intends to further equip the Management of Turisthotel with experts in the fields of tourism and finance. It further states that given the size and business activity of Turisthotel, Tankerska considers it inappropriate for it to be led by a one-member Management. Although it is, as expected, not stated in the announcement that Matešić Sičić will be dismissed (but that the Management will be further equipped), the conflicts between the two managements clearly suggest that Tankerska is thinking in that direction. Especially after the announcement of the dividend advance payment to Turisthotel’s shareholders, a move for which Pavić warned Matešić Sičić over the phone that she should not make after Tankerska’s obligation to announce the offer arose. Matešić Sičić even reported Pavić for alleged threats during that phone call.

Withdrawal from the Stock Exchange

Although the Management of Turisthotel has made decisions about paying advances on dividends to shareholders in previous years, the announcement that Matešić Sičić will do so again this year has stirred spirits in Zadar. She announced it, we are almost certain, in consultation with Skoblar. We managed to reach him by phone, but although he was polite, he did not want to talk about anything, including whether the announced dividend advance was paid to shareholders.

No notice of the advance payment has been published on the Zagreb Stock Exchange, and since the session of the Supervisory Board, which was supposed to make such a decision, has been announced and then canceled, it can be assumed that the dividend advance was not paid. Does this mean that the pressure from the leadership of Tankerska Plovidba has borne fruit and that Skoblar and Matešić Sičić have retreated to defensive positions? We can only speculate.

In any case, regardless of the fact that advances on dividends have been paid in previous years, an additional reason for such a move by the leaders of Turisthotel was to indicate to shareholders who might sell shares to Tankerska that the value of the share is much higher than the offered 610 euros (despite being the highest price of Turisthotel shares in history). However, the question is how much this is in accordance with the Law on Takeover of Joint Stock Companies after the obligation to make a public offer for the purchase of Turisthotel shares has arisen.

Regarding Tankerska’s plans, if it takes over Turisthotel, it intends to withdraw it from the Zagreb Stock Exchange. By the way, at the end of December last year, the shares of Tankerska Next Generation (TNG), a company owned by Tankerska Plovidba, were also withdrawn from the stock exchange, which is clearly a policy that this company advocates. In any case, the plan is for Turisthotel to be transformed from a joint-stock company into a limited liability company.

A revision of investment plans is possible after a due diligence is conducted. Namely, according to the current plans of Turisthotel, investments of 113 million euros are planned, and the net cash and cash equivalents at the end of last year in that company were approximately 40 million euros.

However, the possibility of acquiring other hotels is not excluded, not only in Zadar County but also throughout Dalmatia.

Read more in the new issue of digital and printed edition of Lider.