From the Fortenova group on Tuesday, regarding the sale of Super Konzum in Radnička Street to business partner Pavao Vujnovac, who has a significant stake in Fortenova, it was stated that debt reduction through real estate sales is part of their strategy agreed upon with the main creditor HPS.
Namely, N1 reported today that Mercator-H, a subsidiary of the Fortenova group, sold a large business complex Super Konzum Radnička to Anti Bračić, a Croatian-Slovenian entrepreneur connected with Pavao Vujnovac in a series of companies dealing with real estate, and he was allowed to register a mortgage for the loan on that property.
According to N1’s report, “the office building at Ulica grada Vukovara 269/B (business shopping center), underground garage, and courtyard, all on a lavish 35,741 square meters of land in the city center, previously owned by Mercator-H d.o.o. – a company that entered the Agrokor group of companies after its acquisition in 2014, and then Fortenova group – was sold to a company owned by Croatian-Slovenian entrepreneur Ante Bračić in November 2022 for 20.5 million euros, and Ante Bračić’s companies took out a loan in the Slovenian SPARKASSE – 15,359,634.34 euros, and the Super Konzum Radnička property was pledged for the loan.”
From Fortenova, it was emphasized that they are continuously working on strengthening their capital structure through enhancing profitability and debt reduction of the Group. – The result of this is a reduction in indebtedness within just four years, which has decreased from 7.2 times the debt to EBITDA ratio to 3.5 times – they stated in response to Hina’s inquiry.
This reduction in debt, they said, is a result of the Management’s focus on three areas. The first is the sale of frozen food for 615 million euros, the second is an increase in profitability to over 300 million euros in less than four years, which is an increase in profitability of over 180 million euros, and the third is the sale of non-core assets and real estate.
Debt reduction through real estate sales is part of the Group’s strategy that has been agreed upon with the main creditor HPS (American fund), they emphasized from Fortenova, stating that the process of selling any assets within the Group is conducted in accordance with the formal procedure defined by the management model. In this regard, the basis for validating sale prices are estimates from international appraisal firms, they said.
– In the last two years, the Fortenova group has achieved a value of over 85 million euros on that basis. In all real estate sales of the Group, if companies remain in lease, contracts are defined on market principles that allow them long-term competitiveness. The sale of real estate is part of the process of reallocating capital and utilizing the company’s capital in a more quality manner that enables better indebtedness, better conditions for value creation, as well as greater financial stability of the Group – they emphasized from Fortenova.
ENNA Group: Transaction Approved by Fortenova’s Management Bodies and Creditor
From the ENNA Group, which is owned by Pavao Vujnovac, it was stated that Fortenova has a contractual obligation, signed during the settlement with creditors in 2019, to sell real estate of certain value and that this obligation arose before Pavao Vujnovac purchased shares in Fortenova.
– Fortenova continuously sells real estate in its ownership, having sold hundreds so far in accordance with estimated values, and they are purchased by various buyers. The sale of these properties is continuously advertised on the websites of Fortenova and Mercator, so at this moment anyone can see which properties are advertised for sale and submit an offer – they emphasized from the ENNA Group.
They note that all real estate sales conducted by Fortenova, including this one in Radnička Street in Zagreb, are realized through publicly announced tenders in accordance with the estimated value of the property.
– This specific transaction was approved by the management bodies of Fortenova and the creditor who agreed to the sale and the removal of the mortgage – they emphasized from the ENNA Group.
Regarding the premises of Konzum Črnomerec and Konzum Trešnjevka, they state that these were business premises where Konzum was a tenant. These two properties, as stated in the ENNA Group, were not owned by Fortenova for the company to sell them.
These properties, as they explained, had been leased for over 15 years, and companies owned or co-owned by Pavao Vujnovac purchased them about 2.5 years ago from previous owners to secure the future of Konzum’s business in proven good locations, and both Konzums are still leased at the mentioned locations.
Vujnovac has a significant stake in Fortenova, and no one is more interested than him in the business and financial sustainability and success of the entire Group, they emphasized from the ENNA Group.
Pavao Vujnovac, through the company Open Pass, in which he is a co-owner, holds about a quarter of the shares of Fortenova Group, and he is also the owner of the First Gas Company, while through the holding company Energia naturalis (ENNA) he manages about 20 companies with various portfolios – from procurement and wholesale of gas to logistics, railway cargo transport, and the purchase and processing of fruits and vegetables.
