Croatia’s struggling Agrokor puts founder's yacht and helicopter up for sale

Croatia’s struggling Agrokor puts founder's yacht and helicopter up for sale
By bne IntelliNews May 26, 2017

Croatia’s struggling retail giant Agrokor called bidders for its Riva 85 Opera model motor yacht and Bell 427 VFR model helicopter on May 26, according to a statement from the company.

Agrokor’s bank debt payments are currently frozen due to a standstill agreement signed last month with its main lenders. Earlier this month, local media speculated that Agrokor urgently needed an additional €400mn cash injection to sustain its operations.

The yacht and helicopter are understood to have been part of the lavish lifestyle of Agrokor’s founder Ivica Todoric, Croatia’s richest man until his business empire began to unravel early this year. 

The group’s emergency management is also reportedly planning to sell off its fleet of luxury cars which include Mercedes, Range Rovers and Audis, Total Croatia News reported on May 21. 

On May 25, Agrokor also issued a further notice for its creditors to submit their claims before the deadline of June 9.

Agrokor is estimated to owe a total of HRK16bn (€2.2bn) to its suppliers while total liabilities of Agrokor Group’s 19 largest subsidiaries, including Agrokor itself as well as Konzum, Tisak, Frikom and Ledo, amounted to HRK40.4bn as of end-March. 

Agrokor’s 19 largest subsidiaries owed a total of HRK24.5bn to financial creditors as of end-March, while debts to the suppliers amounted to HRK6.24bn. The figures do not include the recent emergency loan worth of €80mn obtained last month.

As the group’s restructuring gets underway, on May 25, Agrokor’s chief emergency officer Ante Ramljak held a second meeting with officials from the government of Bosnia & Herzegovina in Sarajevo. At the meeting, Ramljak proposed the reintroduction of Mercator brand to Bosnia to replace Konum BiH, its current retailing unit in Bosnia. 

“Konzum BiH’s business operations are stable and it is regularly fulfilling all of its obligations, but we have decided to consider a new business concept for the Bosnian market with the aim of better long-term positioning of Agrokor’s retail network and further development in the regional market,” Ramljak said following the meeting.

Agrokor’s emergency management estimates that replacement of Konzum BiH with Mercator would save jobs in Bosnia and it would also enable successful business for the retail chain that now operates in Bosnia under the brand of Konzum, Ramljak also said, according to Hina.

 

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