Logistics group Intereuropa fom Sovenia has sold its Moscow-based subsidiary Checkovskiy to Italy’s Unicredit bank, sources close to Intereuropa told the STA on Wednesday. The sale is a major breakthrough for the logistics group as the venture nearly ruined the company with huge cost overruns.
The daily Dnevnik reported today that Unicredit had already transferred EUR 45m to Intereuropa. Previous reports suggested that the Intereuropa would get EUR 50m from the sale of its stake in Intereuropa East and the Checkovskiy logistics centre, which is EUR 94m less than it spent on the investment.
The news comes two weeks after the supervisory board of the logistics group backed the management plans to sell the subsidiary. The sale is »a major step towards the financial restructuring of the company,« chief supervisor Bruno Korelič told the press at the time.
Proceeds from the sale will go to creditor banks, cutting the net financial debt of the logistics group from EUR 162m to about EUR 120m, Dnevnik reported. Intereuropa was hit hard by the economic and financial crisis and posted losses between 2008 and 2011, its balance sheet additionally weighed down by loans for its Russia venture. It has been forced to restructure, which included selling several foreign subsidiaries as well as the entire trucking division.
In the first nine months of this year it posted EUR 142m in sales, 2% below plans, with operating profit at EUR 14m and net profit at EUR 7.2m.