Report: Marina Portorož sold to Japanese buyer

Portorož – Spa operator Terme Čatež confirmed on Friday that it had sold Marina Portorož but would not disclose the buyer. It also said the contract contained suspensive conditions. Newspapers Delo and Primorske Novice reported of the sale earlier today, saying the buyer came from Japan.

Delo reported the buyers were Japanese investments funds and the price was below EUR 15 million, while Primorske reported of a Japanese multinational buying the country’s biggest marina for EUR 16 million.

Meanwhile, the business newspaper Finance says on its website, quoting unofficial information, that the buyer is Slovenian company JoanthanMars or one of its subsidiaries that manages alternative investment funds.

JonathanMars is owned by the company UR Invest, whose owner is Uroš Raspet, a co-owner and a senior official at the Vzajemci group, says the paper.

“The transaction is not yet closed as certain suspensive conditions must be met first. When the suspensive conditions from the contract are met and the transfer of ownership shares completed, the company will make a public announcement,” Terme Čatež said on the web site of the Ljubljana Stock Exchange today.

The sale had been announced weeks ago by the head of Terme Čatež and its owner the publisher DZS, Bojan Petan, who said the move was coordinated with the York fund, the DZS’s main creditor, according to Primorske.

Terme Čatež reportedly made the deal a few days ago with a Japanese multinational at the price of some EUR 16 million, while other information about the deal is not known, Primorske says, adding that it is possible that the contract again contained suspensive conditions.

A number of unfulfilled suspensive conditions was allegedly what caused the sale of the marina to Adventura Holding to fall through last year, says the paper.

According to Delo, one suspensive condition allegedly refers to a plot for which Marina Portorož has a concession contract. The plots intended for a planned coastal spa complex were reportedly not part of the sales agreement.

Terme Čatež, which is part of the DZS group, has been selling Marina Portorož for a while. A fresh sales procedure started last August and bids were accepted until the second half of September, while Primorske says the selection procedure concluded recently.

A while ago the marina was to be sold to Adventura Holding and the company Glen, but the deal went sour over disagreements on the price.

The company MMNT, which Adventura Holding and Glen founded for the takeover, was to pay EUR 21.6 million for the marina, according to reports from the business newspaper Finance in August last year.

Peter Polič from the P&P group from Lucija near Piran offered EUR 40 million for Marina Portorož and the land intended for the coastal spa complex, tennis courts and bungalows in its final offer almost three years ago. He told Primorske the company had not been bidding this time.

He said that after signing the non-disclosure agreement, the company had been informed that talks were already under way with two other buyers.

The Piran municipality told Primorske that it had been informed that the sale process was in the final phase. The municipality said it hoped the new owner would develop the marina activity well.

The sale of Marina Portorož was a part of the DZS’s agreement with creditors on financial restructuring. The main creditor is the York fund, which had purchased the claims for the Gorenjska Banka bank and the bad bank.

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