Colgan and Plant rise in the shareholder rankings of Garden Brewery

The order of the largest shareholders of the largest domestic craft beer producer Garden Brewery has changed somewhat with the purchase of nearly 6000 shares. As announced on the Zagreb Stock Exchange on Monday, Nicholas (Nick) Colgan, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, and David Andrew Plant, a member of the Management Board, each purchased 2836 shares of Garden Brewery on Friday. The shares were purchased in an off-exchange transaction, and Colgan and Plant each paid 283,600 euros for these packages.

With this transaction, Colgan – the founder of the brewery – and Plant have displaced the AZ voluntary pension fund from the position of the third-largest shareholder. According to data from the Central Clearing Depository, the AZ Profit voluntary pension fund holds eight thousand shares, while Plant was previously the fourth shareholder with 7588 shares. With this purchase, he will hold 10,424 shares, or more than ten percent of the stake. Nick Colgan, a former manager of the UB40 group who has lived in Croatia for over two decades, held 5988 shares as the fifth-largest shareholder and now owns 8824 shares.

Let us recall that the largest shareholders of Garden Brewery are the AZ mandatory pension fund category B, which controls 30.8 percent of the stake, and former football player Milan Badelj with 27.5 percent of the stake. The AZ pension fund and Badelj entered the ownership structure during Garden’s IPO in the spring of 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic. By going public, the company aimed to raise capital for expanding production, more aggressive positioning in the international market, growth in exports in total revenue, and connecting with the company Yellow Submarine.

The Garden Brewery Group consists of companies The Bird, which is engaged in the production, wholesale, and retail of craft beer, Lula, which organizes music and other festivals in Croatia, primarily the music festival ‘The Garden’ in the bay of Rastovac in Tisno, and the company Full Circle, which is engaged in the production and retail of food and beverages intended for music and street festivals.

The group achieved revenue growth of over 24 percent last year, an EBITDA of 2.3 million euros, and a profit before tax of 822,703 euros. After the company paid a dividend of 12 euros per share in 2023, representing a yield of 18.08 percent on the share price from the initial public offering, the Management Board proposed a dividend payment of five euros at the end of April. This represents a yield of 7.53 percent on the IPO price. The main shareholders’ meeting will be held on June 28.