Croatian Food Giants in London Stock Exchange Launch

Croatia’s largest privately owned company Agrokor are planning to launch on the London Stock Exchange. Food giants Agrokor, which has Croatian supermarket chain Konzum in its vast portfolio, is planning an Initial Public Offering (IPO) within the next two years, company founder Ivica Todoric told the Financial Times.

Todoric says the money generated from the IPO will be used for acquisitions in Turkey and Russia as the Croatian company plans to expand its empire. The Financial Times notes in its report that Agrokor, which operates agricultural and food production and retailing businesses, agreed in June to buy a 53.1 percent stake in the largest Slovenian retailer Mercator for 240 million EUR , to create a regional retail giant, under the provisional name Adria Group.

“We are ready to fully merge the two companies and we believe that within a period of two years we will be ready for the next move. We’ll see if that means forming partnerships, acquisitions or entering new markets. Now would be a shame to launch the IPO, but we believe that within a few years the market will be completely different and we’ll be ready. We are ready to talk with major international financial players about it, “said Todoric.