"Droga Kolinska" to set aside 20m EUR for acquisitions in region in 2010

(Slobodan Vučićević)

- Slovenian "Droga Kolinska" intends to set aside 20m EUR in each year of the next four for takeover of companies in the region. After that period, in case of some good offers, it is possible that the company will be offered for sale - the President of the Administration of "Droga Kolinska", Slobodan Vučićević, told "eKapija".

- "Droga Kolinska" will be expanding the business both organically and inorganically. We will focus on development of our strongest brands, and since we are highly profitable, we are thinking about purchasing companies from the territory of former Yugoslavia. At the moment, six companies are taken in consideration, only one of which is from Serbia. We also plan to start building a factory in Turkey with the partner from that country within the next year and half - said Vučićević.

He pointed to the significance of the markets of former Yugoslav countries to "Droga Kolinska" and said that the export to Montenegro was 2.5 times bigger than the export to Russia.

Vučićević also told "eKapija" that it can be expected that "Droga Kolinska" be sold within the next four years.

- Whoever gives a good offer, we will negotiate the sale. But, potential buyers must be highly qualified because this company is worth a lot, and its price will reach 0.5 billion EUR after the crisis - said Vučićević.

He pointed out that it was possible that the company would be offered for sale before year 2013. However, that depends on banks and owners, which announced that "Droga Kolinska" would be the last company to be offered for sale within "Istrabenz" group.

"Istrabenz" owns 89% of "Droga Kolinska", "NCA Investment" group has the share of 5%, Probanka's share amounts to 4%, while 2% of "Droga Kolinska" is in the possession of Faktor Banka.

"Droga Kolinska", which today employs 2,700 people, is the result of the merger of two Slovenian and two Serbian companies - "Kolinska" and "Droga" and "Grand" and "Soko Štark".

Its most famous brands are - "argeta", "kokta", "donat", "barcaffe", "grand kafa", "najlepše želje", "bananica", "smoki".