June the 4th, 2021 - As we recently wrote, the Croatian-Swedish company Pervanovo, owned by entrepreneur Darko Pervan, has purchased the Croatian company Spacva, with plans for big investments and more.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Suzana Varosanec writes, on behalf of the Pervanovo company (based in Dubrovnik), owned by sole founder Pervanovo Invest AB from Sweden, Swedish-Croatian entrepreneur Darko Pervan, special attorney at law Mislav Bradvica, lawyer at the Zagreb law firm Bradvica, Mari, Wahl, Cesarec, delivered a notice of the occurrence of the obligation to publish a takeover bid for Spacva to the Zagreb Stock Exchange.

The above notice was submitted on the occurrence of the obligation to publish a bid for the takeover of the company Drvna industrija Spačva d.d., based in Vinkovci, and was entered into the court register of the Commercial Court in Osijek.

"Please publish the submitted notice on the occurrence of the obligation to publish a takeover bid without delay on the website of the Zagreb Stock Exchange d.d., in accordance with Article 4, paragraph 2 of the ZPDD,'' reads the notice.

Entrepreneur Darko Pervan appears extremely happy with the Spacva purchase, and can hardly wait to begin with his business plans. ''We're very satisfied with this latest acquisition,'' added Stjepan Vojinic, a member of the Management Board of Pervanovo, who clearly shares in this feeling.

"We've purchased Spacva, through the acquisition of shares from the Questus fund, Hrvatska postanska banka (HPB) and the Maverick fund, and that's a total of 98.6 percent of Spacva's shares," explained Vojinic, adding that they have to enter the operational business of Spacva in order to then present their ambitious future plans.

The full transaction was completed in which, as has since been found out, the services of consultants weren't even used. In the continuation of the procedure, a public announcement is expected for the remaining 1.4 percent of Spacva shares.

For more, follow our dedicated business section.

June the 3rd, 2021 - Darko Pervan, who is a Swedish-Croatian investor quite well known across the country for his business moves and various acquisitions, will be the one to take over the Croatian Spacva company.

As Novac/Jozo Vrdoljak writes, Quaestus Private Equity sold 75.8 of its shares of the Croatian Spacva to Swedish-Croatian investor Darko Pervan and his Croatian company Pervanovo, and the plans now are quite ambitious indeed.

Until recently, the Polish flooring manufacturer Barlinek was the most serious investor in the Croatian Spacva company. But after that enterprise gave up on the venture, Darko Pervan's Pervanovo came into play. Representatives of the Quaestus Private Equity Kapital II fund were in Sweden about a year or so ago and talked personally to Darko Pervan, who is considered one of the most desirable investors in the wood industry, but Pervan kept things close to his chest all the time.

Now it can be seen that Pervan's move was indeed a brilliant strategic move, and the lion's share of the takeover was done by Stjepan Vojnic.

''The process of finding a strategic investor for the Croatian Spacva company began back in September 2020, at during very challenging times given the epidemiological situation.

During the process, talks were held with the largest and most reputable European wood industries and several investment funds. The entire wood industry has operated very successfully since last summer and with surprisingly good results given the situation, but uncertainty and limitations in normal business and travel have made it much more difficult to implement the process that was led entirely by Quaestus.

In the second step of the process, interested investors conducted an in-depth survey of the Croatian Spacva company. Corporate governance and transparent operations have been the focus of Quaestus and Spacva since the very first day of the takeover, and an in-depth look was only a formal confirmation of many years of good practice. The transaction was finalised during the month of May and a transition period will now follow until the assembly is held.

We're pleased with the outcome because satisfactory conditions have been achieved for our investors, but the long-term future of Spacva has also been ensured. As such, both goals of the funds for economic cooperation have been met. The Croatian Spacva company is in an extremely good financial situation with fully organised business processes, and Darko Pervan and the companies in the Bjelin Group have all the necessary resources, knowledge and vision to turn Spacva from a mere Croatian leader to a European leader in the wood industry,'' said Mario Popic from Quaestus Private Equity.

Quaestus otherwise initially took over Spacva back in 2013, after it had fallen into a severe crisis.

An investment of 200 million euros

Stjepan Vojnic, the director of the companies Pervanovo and Bjelin, recently revealed that in this cycle, the companies owned by Darko Pervan headquartered here in Croatia intend to invest 200 million euros. Bjelin, Pervan's second company operating in Croatia, manages plants for the production of floor coverings in Bjelovar and Ogulin, and he's been the owner of the company Furnir from Otok for over two years now.

In addition to the strength of the brand and its implied tradition, the huge value of the company and its contract with Croatian Forests (Hrvatske sume) is also of significance. A quota of 45,000 cubic metres of oak per year for a period of one decade has been agreed.

The Croatian Spacva company's geostrategic position is also valuable due to the fact that the area of ​​Vinkovci still has a sufficient number of interested workers trained to work in the wood industry in this country. During the first quarter of 2021, Spacva recorded 65 million kuna in revenue and 3.4 million kuna in profit, and its inventories were worth a massive 81 million kuna as of March the 31st.

For more, follow our business section.

As Novac/Jozo Vrdoljak writes on the 23rd of November, 2020, back in mid-October, Spacva, an Eastern Croatian company from Vinkovci, received a letter from Quaestus Private Equity Capital. The latter is the owner of four million shares, which is a 75.81 percent stake in Drvna industrija Spacva, and the letter stated that this was to be the last year of the fund's participation and that actions regarding the exit from ownership and the sale of Spacva's shares had begun.

Davor Doric, a member of the Management Board of Quaestus Private Equity, didn't want to comment on the process of exiting the fund because, as he says, these are sensitive processes.

''Quaestus has invested in Spacva on two occasions, once in 2013 and then again back 2017. Just before the first investment, in 2013, Spacva entered into a pre-bankruptcy settlement with its creditors. All obligations from the settlement were properly settled within the agreed deadline. Since Quaestus joined Spacva, revenue has increased significantly to around 250 million kuna, and the number of employees has increased from 570 to 850. In the meantime, investments in technology have been made in excess of 150 million kuna, which has enabled the company to grow significantly and raise its operational efficiencies. Spacva fulfilled the plans and expectations of the fund and is a good example of achieving the role of funds when engaged in economic cooperation,'' said Davor Doric.

It's worth noting that the investors in the fund are the Croatian Government itself, with a share of 50 percent through HBOR, pension funds and other institutional investors, which make up the remaining 50 percent. Spacva was founded back in 1956 under its original name - SEC Slavonian Oak. The main activity of this Eastern Croatian company is wood processing and production of wood products. Spacva also engages in several additional activities such as furniture production, the wholesale of furniture, wooden, wicker and cork products, and among them are construction and trade intermediation. Basically, over the coming months, Quaestus Private Equity Capital II needs to find a new investor for Spacva, reportedly before the end of February 2021.

The interest of Darko Pervan, owner of Pervan Invest in Sweden and the company Bjelin, which was created after he took over Tehno drvo with plants in Bjelovar and Ogulin, where he also had large investments, as well as the Otok Veneer Factory in Croatia, has since been confirmed. Pervan's interest was confirmed by the President of the Management Board of Bjelin, Stjepan Vojnic.

''At this moment in time, it's difficult for me to say whether we will go and make an offer to take over Spacva or not. There's a lot of dilemmas there, from how to fit Spacva's production programme into our production programme and our business, and how to maintain high employment within Spacva. We're still in the testing phase because it isn't easy to take over such a company. Every entrepreneurial venture, and such is every takeover of a company in a situation where the coronavirus pandemic continues to reign, is difficult and uncertain. We're interested, but there are still a lot of ambiguities that we have to resolve in order to make a decision. Spacva's biggest advantage is the quality raw material base, ie its contract with Croatian Forests. I believe that there are also more interested investors,'' Vojnic pointed out.

Business results

Reliable sources show that Barlinek, a well-known Polish manufacturer and one of the largest European manufacturers of multilayer parquets, has also expressed interest. Allegedly, the representatives of this Polish company have already visited Spacva.

In the first nine months of this year, Spacva generated total revenues of 184.5 million kuna and a profit of slightly more than 9 million kuna. Sales revenues in that period amounted to 164.1 million kuna. Of the total revenue generated on the foreign market, 67.5 percent of revenue was generated. The most important export countries for this Eastern Croatian company in other areas of Europe, more specifically in Italy, Romania, France, Serbia, Germany and the United Kingdom.

''In the second half of the year, due to the opening up of key markets and the abolition of anti-epidemic measures, ie lockdown, Spacva achieved the expected revenues at the level of 2019, and in some months exceeded the planned sales revenues. We expect a successful flow of sales revenue in the last quarter if the situation from the beginning of the crisis caused by the coronavirus doesn't happen to us again. The company is working intensively to open new markets with the aim of maximising its sales revenue. The Management Board is very carefully monitoring all changes on the market and announcements related to new measures in key European markets,'' the Spacva Management Board noted.

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