CVC, EMMA Capital to acquire Czech package firm Zasilkovna

PRAGUE, Dec 22 (Reuters) - A consortium of fund CVC Capital Partners and investor Jiri Smejc's EMMA Capital will acquire Czech package delivery company Zasilkovna, the groups said on Friday.

The CVC-EMMA consortium agreed to buy 100% of Packeta, the parent company of Zasilkovna, which has become a leading Czech parcel brand since starting operations in 2010 and expanding to neighbouring countries.

Packeta said it expects its turnover to reach 7.25 billion crowns this year, up from 6.04 billion in 2022, when it posted a pre-tax profit 172 million crowns that was down 41% year on year.

Financial details of the deal, still subject to competition approvals, were not disclosed. Completion in expected in the first half of 2024.

Czech financial daily Hospodarske Noviny, without citing sources, reported that the final sale price would be between 350 million and 380 million euros. CVC-EMMA beat out Royal Mail unit GLS in the bidding, the paper said.

Under the deal, CVC will hold 65% of Packeta, the consortium said. A minority equity investment by the Czech investment group R2G is anticipated within CVC's stake, it said.

"We are pleased that our bid to acquire Packeta was successful," Jakub Canda, a senior managing director at CVC, said in a statement. "We deeply appreciate what the existing management has managed to build effectively from zero to what Packeta is today."

The groups said they aimed to make the parcel firm, which has over 15,000 pick-up points currently, a "very significant player in Europe."

Zasilkovna founder Simona Kijonkova and other Packeta shareholders had began exploring a sale earlier this year.

Previously, Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky, who has invested in Royal Mail, was reported to be among bidders. ($1 = 22.3120 Czech crowns) (Reporting by Jason Hovet; Editing by Chris Reese, Jonathan Oatis and Mark Porter)