Croatia's Imperial Riviera shareholders approve capital hike

Under the plan, Imperial's existing shareholders - local pension fund management company Allianz ZB and tourism group Valamar Riviera - [ZSE:RIVP] will subscribe for new shares worth 296 million kuna and 106 million kuna, respectively, Imperial Riviera said in a filing to the Zagreb Stock Exchange (ZSE) last week.

In addition, insurer Allianz Zagreb will subscribe for 18 million kuna worth of new shares and investment fund manager Allianz Invest for 6.0 million kuna worth of new shares, the statement said.

The company will issue a total of 488,012 new ordinary shares without nominal value.

In a separate statement filed with theZSE last week, Valamar Riviera said that following the capital hike, Allianz ZB will become the largest single shareholder in Imperial Riviera with a 48.25% stake (up from current 36.55%), followed by Valamar with 43.68% (down from current 52.84%), Allianz Zagreb with 1.38% and Allianz Invest with 0.46%.

Imperial Riviera's shares last traded on the ZSE on October 29, closing up 5.0% at 835 kuna.

Imperial Riviera was set up at the beginning of July following the merger of hotel operator Hoteli Makarska into Rab-based peer Imperial. The merger was completed after both companies were privatised by the AZ pension funds managed by Allianz ZB and Valamar in partnership.

Valamar and the AZ pension funds have invested more than 1.0 billion kuna over the past three years in the acquisition of Imperial and Hotel Makarska and the subsequent strengthening of their portfolios, the statement added.

(1 euro = 7.44963 kuna)