Saif Alketbi of the United Arab Emirates has acquired a 43.4% interest in Fortenova Grupa by buying Sberbank's stake in that Croatian company.

The financial transaction, which refers to a stake of 43.4% in the Dutch holding company Fortenova Group – the sole shareholder of Fortenova Grupa d.d. – was completed on 31 October, the Millenium Promocija public relations agency said in a press release on Wednesday evening.

Alketbi’s office said the acquisition marked the beginning of a period of strategic investment by the UAE investor in Croatia and that it was confident the investment in Fortenova Grupa would be very useful for the group and the Croatian economy.

Alketbi is an experienced investor in private equity in a number of sectors. He holds a degree in computing from United Arab Emirates University and an honorary degree in financial management and management of government organisations, awarded to him by the University of Human Sciences and Technology of Lugano, the press release said.

Fortenova Grupa: We have no official information on sale of Sberbank stake

Fortenova Grupa has no official information on the sale of the stake held by Sberbank, the group said on Wednesday evening after it was announced that the investor from the UAE had acquired a 43.4% stake in the company by buying Sberbank’s interest.

“Sberbank’s assets have been under sanctions and the sale would require special permits from bodies in charge of implementing the sanctions,” the group said in response to a query from the Croatian state news agency Hina.

The first potential buyer of Sberbank’s stake, the Hungarian Indotek, did not manage to obtain those permits, the group said.

In a second attempt to sell the Sberbank stake, with the potential buyers being pension funds, the necessary permits were obtained, however, representatives of the German Allianz sitting on the AZ Fund Supervisory Board stopped the transaction, Fortenova Grupa added.

“According to information available to Fortenova Grupa, no further sale permits were obtained and we do not see how a valid sale could have occurred. Also, following due diligence by the pension funds, there were no other instances of due diligence. If the sanctions were bypassed in the process, that constitutes a criminal act and the company did not take part in it,” Fortenova Grupa said.

The Russian Sberbank entered Fortenova Grupa’s ownership structure in April 2019 after the successful implementation of a settlement between creditors of the Agrokor food and retail company. That stake in Fortenova Grupa is owned by SBK ART LLC, whose ultimate majority owner is Sberbank of Russia.