November 11 (SeeNews) - Norwegian fund Skagen had exited Croatian food, beverage and drug producer Podravka [ZSE:PODR-R-A] by selling its 7.27% stake in the company for 186.4 million kuna ($27 million/24.8 million euro) to undisclosed buyers, Podravka said.
Skagen Kon-Tiki Verdipapirfond, a unit of Skagen, divested its complete holdings in Podravka, a total of 517,852 shares equivalent to a stake of 7.27%, on November 8, the Croatian company said in a bourse filing on Thursday.
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According to information available on the bourse, the sale was performed in four transactions.
Local media have reported that the buyers were several local pension funds including Raiffeisen Mandatory Pension Fund, which purchased a 3.9% stake and increased its overall holdings to 8.8%, and PBZ CO which, by acquiring a 2.1% stake, boosted its share in Podravka to 13% and became the company's largest shareholder.
In October, Podravka said its consolidated nine-month net profit rose 11.8% on the year to 146.7 million kuna mainly thanks to lower finance costs. The company's sales revenue jumped by an annual 23.1% to 3 billion kuna in January-September, with its main food business generating a 29.9% growth to 2.5 billion kuna thanks to the consolidation of Slovenian food maker Zito, which became effective as of October 1, 2015.
($=7.50826 euro)