ZAGREB, 15 January, 2021 - The Slovenian energy company Petrol has taken over the Zagreb-headquartered Crodux Derivati, which was owned by businessman Ivan Čermak, Petrol said in a press release on Friday.

This transaction will enable Petrol to acquire 91 filling stations in Croatia, after the deal is approved by relevant regulators.

The agreement on the transaction was signed on Tuesday, however, Petrol did not reveal the price of this deal.

In 2019, this Croatian company, specialised in trade and storage of petroleum products, earned HRK 5.64 billion in sales revenues, and its net profit totalled HRK 143 million. There were 1,150 employees on its payroll that year.

As a result of the takeover, Petrol will operate more than 200 filling stations in Croatia and its share in Croatia's market will rise from 13% to 23%.

This has been also the biggest transaction for Petrol in the last 10 years.

The new head of the Slovenian company Petrol confirmed that they are indeed looking at possible acquisitions.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 25th of January, 2020, the Slovenian company Petrol remains interested in investing and expanding into the markets of Southeastern Europe, including the Croatian market, even after the appointment of the new president of the board of directors, Nada Drobna Popovic, according to Slovenian media.

She confirmed to Slovenian Radio that the company is interested in growing in Slovenia and across into other markets where it has been present so far, the most important of which is its presence in the Republic of Croatia.

According to Delo, a Slovenian publication, this statement from the Slovenian company Petrol comes as somewhat of a surprise since, at the initiative of the former supervisory board that Popovic chaired, Petrol director Tomaz Berlocnik had to resign three months ago as the new director felt that his plans for potential investment and acquisitions abroad were much too ambitious.

Popovic is expected to prepare a strategic plan for Petrol's development by 2025 this year, and as Delo states, they do not want to comment on the purchase of the Croatian company Crodux because of interest in its ninety fuel stations, which would boost the Slovenian company Petrol and its position in the sale of petroleum products here on the Croatian market.

The Croatian agency for the protection of market tenders (AZTN) approved the concentration of Petrol over part of Crodux Plina's (Crodux Gas) business last year, since Petrol's market share on the Croatian market for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) does not exceed twenty percent after the acquisition.

The aforementioned Croatian agency also previously allowed part of the acquisition of control of Petrol over a portion of Crodux Gas's electricity-related business.

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