Factbox-Czech billionaire Kretinsky's sprawling empire

(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)