Penta Investments, an investment group located in Central Europe, has announced the sale of two companies in its portfolio. Penta inked a sales and purchase contract to dispose of its stake in PPC Investments, a.s., which is being purchased by a member of ISTROENERGO GROUP, a.s. At the same time, Penta also concluded the sale of NOVES okná, a.s. in a management buyout.
In the case of the PPC divestiture, finalization of the transaction is subject to approval by the Slovak Republic Antimonopoly Office. Further details about the transactions were not disclosed by Penta.
“A week ago we published our financials for 2013, and at the same time explained that our investment strategy would be based on development of major projects and gradual divestiture of smaller companies in our portfolio,” said Jaroslav Haščák, Managing Partner of Penta. “Selling PPC and Noves is fully in line with this strategy.”
He continued by adding, “Although the company is profitable and operating well, our priorities are today in other sectors and projects and we would rather concentrate our efforts here. This is mainly health care, financial services, retail, real estate development and manufacturing.”
PPC operates a 218 MW and a 58 MW cogeneration unit in Bratislava. Penta has run PPC since 2004, achieving sales of EUR 132 million in 2013. Under a long-term contract that expired at the end of 2013, PPC had supplied heat to Bratislavská teplárenská, a.s.(BAT), contributing to the heating of 70,000 homes in eastern Bratislava. Since 1 January 2014, BAT has been producing and delivering heat in-house.
NOVES okná, a.s. is known especially for its high-quality, premium manufacture of plastic and aluminium windows and doors. The company is headquartered and has its production plant in Spišská Nová Ves. Noves was acquired by Penta in 2009, when regional consolidation of window manufacturers was being planned. Starting after 2012, however, Penta decided not to continue operating in this sector as a consequence of a further slump in construction sales, which mainly affected its operations in Poland. In 2013, Noves reported sales of almost EUR 12 million.