The state-run Center for Enterprise Restructuring and Privatization in Croatia invited investors to bid for two Croatia-based hotel operators. CERP is set to sell a 55.8-percent stake in Hoteli Makarska and a 70.74-percent stake in Jadran. The department will sell 621,086 government-owned shares of Hoteli Makarska, which is worth $19.1 million, and 34.8-million shares of Jadran Crikvenica, which is worth approximately $53.6 million.
The deadline for expressions of interest in the hotel groups is Nov. 13. "Interested investors are invited to submit letters of intent to purchase shares in the joint-stock companies. Letters of intent shall be submitted for each company individually," CERP said in a statement. When CERP receives these letters, the department will determine the initial price and invite binding bids from those investors who have submitted interest letters.
The country has tried to sell the two hotels groups in the past. However, Croatia still has not found buyers for the operators.
Croatia has recently seen activity in its hotel investment market. Just last month, Austria’s HETA Asset Resolution, a subsidiary of HETA Group, sold Croatia’s Skiper hotel to Istrian Hotels/Tampten for an undisclosed sum. The deal included the sale of unfurnished luxury villas and apartments, furnished mid-market to upper-market apartments and an 18-hotel golf course. In the first stage of its Skiper hotel sale, HETA received double-digit non-binding bids. The second phase of the transaction, with due diligence, was finalized in late September 2017. The entire transaction was expected to be complete within the following weeks.