February 8, 2022 – Studenac d.o.o. agreed to buy 100% of Pemo d.o.o., the most respected retail brand in the Dubrovnik region, becoming the largest Croatian retail chain by number of stores and solidifying its position as a leader in the Adriatic region.

The acquisition, whose value was not disclosed, will add nearly 40 stores to Studenac’s network, bringing the total to almost 750. Pemo’s 300 employees in Dubrovnik-Neretva County will join more than 3,700 already working at Omiš-based Studenac. The deal has already received all necessary regulatory approvals.

The takeover builds on Studenac’s successful history of acquisitions of competitors, including Istarski Supermarketi and Sonik in 2019 and last year’s takeover of rival Bure Trgovina, as well as organic expansion to the Croatian capital, Zagreb. From its home base on the Dalmatian coast, where it serves local residents and tourists, Studenac is continuing to roll out its innovative format across the country, bringing best practices from global convenience leaders to the local market.

“Becoming the largest retail chain in Croatia is testimony to the hard work of the Studenac team and proof that we’ve found a winning formula for 21st-century convenience retail,” said Studenac CEO Michal Senczuk. “We’re pressing forward down the path of growth, and this acquisition is yet more evidence of our determination to succeed.”

Founded in 1991, Studenac gradually expanded its wholesale and retail network over the next three decades, reaching 380 stores in 2018. Growth accelerated after the takeover of the company that year by private equity fund Enterprise Investors, which spurred investment in acquisitions, a revamp of the stores’ format and the launch of new products and services.

“We have invested over €250 million in Croatia’s grocery retail sector and this is not our last word,” said Enterprise Investors partner Michał Kędzia, responsible for the fund’s investment into Studenac. “We are delighted with the results attained by Michal 

Senczuk and his team and we are convinced the company will keep growing in the years to come.”

“We look forward to welcoming Pemo’s outstanding team into the Studenac family and offering them new opportunities for career development,” Senczuk added. “Pemo has a tradition almost as long as our own, and we aim to preserve and nurture the values that the company presents to its customers, while adding new products and services to deliver an even more pleasant shopping experience.”

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If you've ever spent any time whatsoever in the City of Dubrovnik or in Croatia's southernmost county of Dubrovnik-Neretva, you'll more than likely have shopped once or twice in a local Pemo. Pemo is one of the less glamorous symbols of southern Dalmatia and supplies local residents and foreign tourists alike.

While Pemo's products are most commonly sold out (and quickly) to foreign visitors stocking up their fridges in their rented accommodation, the stores have a long history in southern Dalmatia and employ several hundred employees.

As Novac writes on the 10th of March, 2020, the equally well known Studenac chain is taking over Dubrovnik's Pemo in order to further strengthen its position along the Croatian coast, according to the retail chain.

Pemo has 35 stores and approximately 370 employees in Dubrovnik-Neretva County in the extreme south of Dalmatia, and after the Competition Agency (AZTN) approves the announced Studenac takeover and fulfills all agreed terms on both sides, Studenac will acquire a 100 percent stake in Pemo d.o.o.

''Over the past year and a half, we've developed a very attractive format of trade in Dubrovnik, which primarily meets the needs of local customers, but also meets high standards of tourist demand. Accordingly, our results in this area are above average, which is especially important for this transaction as we're going to become a significant player in the region and strengthen our leadership position on the Croatian coast,'' stated Michal Senczuk, CEO of Studenac.

Lovorko Milosevic, founder of the much loved and long standing Pemo, thanked regular customers of the Dubrovnik retail chain for their loyalty to the store, stating that he believed that those same faithful customers will continue to shop there and show the same support in the future.

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