Croatian regulator gives nod to Slovenia's Petrol to buy Crodux, Iskra to take over Elka

ZAGREB (Croatia), July 5 (SeeNews) – Croatia's competition watchdog gave a nod last week for the acquisition of local oil wholesaler and retailer of petroleum products Crodux Derivati Dva by Slovenian energy group Petrol [LJE:PETG] and the takeover of local electric cable manufacturer Elka by Slovenian electrotechnical products manufacturer Iskra.

"The Croatian Competition Agency on June 29 assessed as allowable the intention to carry out consolidation which takes place by the acquisition of control by Petrol of Crodux Derivati Dva," the agency said in a statement on its website.

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Through the transaction, Petrol aims to expand its retail network in Croatia, as after the deal it will have a market share of 20 to 30% in terms of number of fuel stations, the regulator said, adding that local oil and gas company INA [ZSE:INA] as the biggest market player will keep its market share of 40 to 50%.

There is still room for new big fuel wholesalers to join the Croatian market, it noted, adding that Petrol is not likely to raise fuel retail prices in Croatia after the acquisition.

Petrol signed a deal to buy Crodux Derivati Dva from businessman Ivan Cermak in January. It did not elaborate the value of the deal, but according to media reports it was over 200 million euro ($237.4 million).

Petrol's shares did not trade on the Ljubljana bourse on Monday morning. On Friday, they closed at 439 euro, up 0.92%.

The watchdog also gave its approval for the acquisition of Elka. The deal will result in significant business synergy effects in view of the earlier takeover of NCP shipyard in Sibenik. Moreover, the transaction will have a positive effect for the buyers of industrial cables on the EU cable market where Elka is present due to significant investments by Iskra in development of new technology solutions, it added.

Iska signed on May 22 a deal to buy Elka from Cotra-Elka group for an undisclosed sum.

(1 euro = 0.8424 euro)