Finance
Factbox-Czech billionaire Kretinsky's sprawling empire
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on December 16, 2024
4 min readLast updated: January 27, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on December 16, 2024
4 min readLast updated: January 27, 2026
Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky is expanding his investments in Europe, focusing on energy, retail, and media sectors, with notable acquisitions like Royal Mail.
(Reuters) -Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky is pressing on with his buying spree in Europe after the British government cleared his investment vehicle to buy Royal Mail.
Kretinsky, 49, a former investment bank lawyer who built one of Europe's largest energy groups, Energeticky a Prumyslovy Holding (EPH), has been diversifying into retail, media and other areas.
His net worth stands at $9 billion, according to Forbes.
Kretinsky operates through various investment vehicles, including EP Group and VESA Equity Investment. The latter has a portfolio valued at more than 3 billion euros ($3.2 billion), according to its website.
Here is a summary of some investments by firms controlled by Kretinsky and his long-term business partner, Patrik Tkac:
EPH
Kretinsky holds slightly over 50% in EPH through its parent EPCG, which owns scores of energy companies across western and central Europe.
The energy business of EPCG reported a combined core profit (EBITDA) of 7.3 billion euros for 2023.
POSTAL SERVICES
* International Distributions Services
Britain cleared EP Group to buy the Royal Mail parent in a 3.57 billion pound ($4.5 billion) deal on Dec. 16, after securing commitments that the government said would protect one of the world's oldest postal services.
* PostNL
Kretinsky had accumulated a 31.4% stake in the Dutch mail and package delivery group through VESA, a regulatory filing showed in November 2022.
* Quadient
Kretinsky invested 1 billion Czech crowns ($41.9 million) in November 2023 to buy a stake in the French mailroom equipment company. VESA owned 15% of the voting rights as of June, the French markets regulator AMF said.
RETAIL
* Unieuro
French retailer Fnac Darty and Ruby Equity Investment, both linked to Kretinsky via VESA, on Dec. 12 reached 96.7% of the share capital of the Italian consumer electronics retailer, with the plan to take it private as of Jan. 8.
* Casino
Kretinsky's Casino buyout consortium said in February that the Paris Commerce court had approved its plan to bail out the debt-laden French retailer under an accelerated protection procedure.
Following the deal, the consortium owned 53.73% of Casino shares as of May 6, LSEG data showed.
* Fnac Darty
VESA is the largest shareholder of the French retailer, according to data from French markets regulator AMF. VESA owns 29% of Fnac Darty's voting rights, the investment vehicle's website said.
* Foot Locker
VESA owns 12.3% voting rights in the U.S. sportswear and footwear retailer.
* Metro
Kretinsky is the controlling shareholder of Metro with 49.99% of the German retail group's voting rights, German weekly "Lebensmittelzeitung" reported in March.
* Sainsbury's
VESA has a 10.06% stake in the British supermarket group, LSEG data showed.
MEDIA
* Editis
France's Vivendi agreed in June 2023 to sell its publishing business Editis to International Media Invest, a unit of Kretinsky's Czech Media Invest (CMI). Vivendi said in November 2023 it had received 653 million euros ($713.53 million) after finalising the sale.
* Elle, Marianne
Kretinsky also owns several French titles via CMI, such as Elle and news magazine Marianne, according to the CMI website.
OTHER
* Thyssenkrupp
The German industrial conglomerate said on May 23 its supervisory board had approved a planned sale of 20% of its steel division to Kretinsky, despite continued opposition from labour unions.
Thyssenkrupp said in April the parties were also in talks about the acquisition of a further 30% stake, aiming for a 50-50 joint venture.
* DoDo
Logistics firm DoDo, which provides fast delivery services to customers in e-commerce, retail and food delivery, said in May 2022 that Kretinsky would inject 60 million euros into the group over two years to support its international expansion.
* West Ham
Kretinsky's 1890s Holdings group has a 27% stake in the English Premier League soccer club, according to the club's website, in addition to his ownership of the leading Czech team, Sparta Prague.
($1 = 0.7903 pounds)
($1 = 0.9523 euros)
($1 = 23.8430 Czech crowns)
(Compiled by Diana Mandiá, Jan Lopatka, Jason Hovet, Alessandro Parodi and Gianluca Lo Nostro; Editing by Milla Nissi)
The article discusses Daniel Kretinsky's investment activities in Europe, focusing on energy, retail, and media sectors.
Kretinsky has invested in Royal Mail, Fnac Darty, and has stakes in companies like Metro and Sainsbury's.
He is diversifying his investments through various sectors, including energy, retail, and media, across Europe.
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