The second largest Slovenian bank, a major fuel trading company, and arguably the most iconic Slovenian tech brand have all gotten new owners in the last twelve months. These three acquisitions are just a few examples of dynamic new developments including many takeovers and investments taking place in Slovenia during the last period.
In mid-2021 US Apollo Global Management announced the sale of its 80-percent stake of NKBM, the second largest bank in Slovenia. The buyer is Hungarian banking group OTP, which has already acquired SKB, the fourth largest bank in Slovenia. The price has not been disclosed but is estimated to be around 1 billion euros. With a balance sheet total of over 9 billion euros, NKBM controls over 20 percent of the Slovenian market. After closing the transaction this May, the new banking group should become the market leader in Slovenia with a market share of almost 30 percent. Only a few days after the Russian invasion of Ukraine the largest Slovenian bank, NLB, took over the Slovenian branch of Russian Sberbank with a small market share of 3.6 percent – yet big enough to remain number one.
Hungarian investors are further increasing their presence in Slovenia with MOL’s takeover of OMV Slovenija, the second largest fuel trading company. MOL currently controls some 10 percent of the Slovenian fuel market – with the addition of OMV’s network their share will increase to a significant 40 percent. For the price of around 300 million euros, the sale should be completed sometime before the end of this year.
Another major acquisition: in late 2021 Australian paint company Dulux Group bought 99.8 percent of Slovenian JUB for 194.5 million euros. Dulux is a part of Japanese Nippon Paint. The new owner plans to “turn JUB into a hub for Central and Eastern Europe, preserve its existing brands, and make it a part of Nippon Paint’s R&D community”.
The sale of ultralight plane maker Pipistrel this spring came as somewhat of a surprise. The award-winning pioneer and global leader in electrically powered aircraft was acquired by the US Textron company, which already has the Cessna, Beechcraft, and Bell aviation brands in its portfolio. The deal was perceived by US specialized media and business magazines (like Forbes) as an important step in the development of electric aviation. The price for 90 percent of the company was set at 218 million euros (242 million US dollars) – the founder of Pipistrel Ivo Boscarol remains a minority shareholder and chairman emeritus of the company.
Several foreign investors already active in Slovenia have announced plans to expand their investments. The largest foreign investor in Slovenia is pharmaceutical group Novartis. In 20 years, Novartis has invested around 3 billion euros in Slovenia and recently announced the construction of a new plant for producing liquid vials and pre-filled syringes in Ljubljana. German tech company Bosch Rexroth has been present in Slovenia since 1998. The company announced plans to concentrate its activities in Slovenia on a new location near Ljubljana’s international airport and increase its revenues from around 30 million to several hundred million euros. Chinese electronic group Hisense is further increasing the capacity of its television set factory in Velenje: the annual production of which should reach 4 million by 2023. The German maker of premium motorhomes Carthago has begun construction on a new plant in Ormož in eastern Slovenia. The new plant, worth around 25 million euros and employing 600 people, should become a significant add-on to the existing capacity of Carthago in near-by village of Odranci.
These are dynamic developments, yet there is more to come later this year. The Slovenian Bank Assets Management Company has already announced the process of sale of some significant Slovenian companies, including Alpina, the global leader in cross country ski boots, underwear manufacturer Beti, chemical company Cinkarna Celje and MLM forgery. Stay tuned.
