Factbox: Czech billionaire Kretinsky's sprawling empire

Television Francaise 1 SA

30/05/2024 11:18

(Repeats story first published on 30 May)
       May 30 (Reuters) - Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky
has pressed on with his buying spree this week with a deal via
investment vehicle EP Group to take the owner of Britain's Royal
Mail private.
Kretinsky, 47, a former investment bank lawyer who built one of
Europe's largest energy groups, Energeticky a Prumyslovy Holding
(EPH), has been diversifying into retail, media and other areas.
    His net worth stands at $9.4 billion, according to Forbes.
    Kretinsky operates through various investment vehicles,
including EP Group and VESA Equity Investment. The latter has a
portfolio valued at more than 3 billion euros ($3.24 billion),
according to its website.
    Here is a summary of some investments by firms controlled by
Kretinsky and his long-term business partner, Patrik Tkac:
     
    EPH
    Kretinsky holds slightly over 50% in EPH through its parent
EPCG, which owns scores of energy companies across western and
central Europe. 
    The energy business of EPCG reported a combined core profit
(EBITDA) of 7.3 billion euros for 2023. 
     
    POSTAL SERVICES
    * International Distributions Services  IDSI.L 
    The owner of Britain's Royal Mail said on May 29 it had
agreed to a 3.57 billion pound ($4.53 billion) takeover by
Kretinsky.
    * PostNL  PTNL.AS 
Kretinsky has accumulated a 31.4% stake in the Dutch mail and
package delivery group through VESA, a regulatory filing showed
in November 2022.
    * Quadient  QDT.PA  
    Kretinsky invested 1 billion Czech crowns ($43.58 million)
in November to buy a stake in the French mailroom equipment
company. VESA owns 10% of the voting rights, according to its
website.
     
    RETAIL   
    * Casino  CASP.PA  
Kretinsky's Casino buyout consortium said in February that the
Paris Commerce court had approved its plan to bail out the
debt-laden French retailer under an accelerated protection
procedure.
    Following the deal, the consortium owned 53.73% of Casino
shares as of May 6, LSEG data shows.
    * Fnac Darty  FNAC.PA 
VESA became the largest shareholder of the French retailer, data
by French markets regulator AMF showed. VESA owns 29% of Fnac
Darty's voting rights, according to the investment vehicle's
website.
    * Foot Locker  FL.N 
    VESA owns 12.3% voting rights in the U.S. sportswear and
footwear retailer.
    * Metro  B4B.DE  
Kretinsky is the controlling shareholder of the group with
49.99% of the German retail group's voting rights, German weekly
"Lebensmittelzeitung" reported in March.
    * Sainsbury's  SBRY.L  
    VESA has a 9.99% stake in the British supermarket group,
LSEG data showed.
     
    MEDIA
    * Editis
France's Vivendi  VIV.PA  agreed in June to sell its publishing
business Editis to International Media Invest, a unit of
Kretinsky's Czech Media Invest (CMI).
Vivendi said in November it received a total of 653 million
euros after finalising the sale.
    * Elle, Marianne
    Kretinsky also owns several French titles via CMI, such as
Elle and news magazine Marianne, according to the CMI website.
    * TF1
    VESA holds 5% in French TV company TF1, LSEG data shows.
     
    OTHER
    * Thyssenkrupp  TKAG.DE 
The German industrial conglomerate said on May 23 its
supervisory board approved a planned sale of 20% of its steel
division to Kretinsky despite continued opposition from labour
representatives.
Thyssenkrupp said in April that the parties are also in talks
about the acquisition of a further 30% stake, aiming for a 50-50
joint venture.
    * Atos  ATOS.PA 
    Kretinsky is trying to persuade creditors to side with him
in the battle for Atos, a source close to the matter said in
May.
His EP Equity Investment (EPEI), in partnership with British
fund Attestor, is offering to erase more than 90% of Atos' 4.8
billion-euro financial debt and sell large parts of the company,
with the proceeds partially distributed to creditors.
    * DoDo
Logistics firm DoDo, which provides fast delivery services to
customers in e-commerce, retail and food delivery, said in May
2022 that Kretinsky would inject 60 million euros into the group
over two years to support its international expansion. 
    * West Ham
    Kretinsky's 1890s Holdings group has a 27% stake in the
English Premier League soccer club, according to the club's
website, in addition to his ownership of the leading Czech team,
Sparta Prague. 
     
    ($1 = 0.9265 euros)
    ($1 = 0.7883 pounds)
    ($1 = 22.9450 Czech crowns)

(Compiled by Laura Lenkiewicz, Diana Mandiá, Jan Lopatka, Jason
Hovet and Alessandro Parodi; Editing by Tomasz Janowski, Jan
Harvey, Sharon Singleton, Milla Nissi, Stephen Coates and Ana
Nicolaci da Costa)
((diana.mandiaalvarez@thomsonreuters.com))