Pátek 29. března 2024, svátek má Taťána
130 let

Lidovky.cz

Sazka rescue plan still not public; Komárek in the game

  15:04

Will Sazka be rescued by Martin Ulčák and Radovan Vítek, Sazka’s largest creditor, or billionaire Karel Komárek? 

Aleše Hušáka a pozoruhodné množství českých finančníků čekají napínavé měsíce. Boj o Sazku se hned tak nerozhodne. foto: © ČTKČeská pozice

Indebted lottery company Sazka has not gained the consent of the absolute majority of bondholders that would allow it to be able to seek protection against creditors. It would mean three months’ protection against creditors for the company, and give the current management headed by Aleš Hušák more time to reach an agreement with potential investors. The deadline for requesting an insolvency moratorium is Feb. 3.

The outcome of Monday’s voting was probably significantly influenced by the real estate entrepreneur Radovan Vítek, Sazka’s largest creditor and holder of approximately one-third of its bonds. According to the available information, he holds receivables totaling approximately Kč 1.5 billion and bonds in about the same amount. Vítek pointed out in advance that he would not support the insolvency moratorium.

Now come news reports Wednesday that billionaire entrepreneur Karel Komárek, owner of K&K Capital Group, which also holds Sazka’s bonds, has become Sazka’s second-largest creditor with claims exceeding Kč 500 million. Whether he and Vítek will work together is unclear. The lottery company’s management had said earlier it was discussing offers made by Penta and by Synot Holding, another lottery company, which cooperates with Komárek.

The information about Monday’s vote appeared the same day that Sazka’s top management was supposed to announce how it intended to tackle the company’s current situation. On Jan. 17, Vítek’s company Moranda gave the court a proposal for instituting insolvency proceedings. Sazka, however, does not acknowledge Vítek’s receivables, formed by credits purchased from banks, claiming that it is not in an insolvency situation.

Rescue plan approved

Nevertheless, Sazka’s board of directors had approved a rescue plan the previous day, which was also given the green light by the company’s supervisory board. It did not make the plan public, as was expected. According to information from the server iDnes.cz, the main rescuer is to be Martin Ulčák, a friend and business partner of Hušák, who is at the same time Sazka’s negotiator with the banks. The help should entail increasing the lottery company’s basic capital. The new twist is that Ulčák is allegedly discussing co-operation with Radovan Vítek.

The real estate magnate would obviously like to reach an agreement. In an interview with daily Mladá fronta Dnes, he admitted that he had several discussions with Martin Ulčák: “He is a pragmatic person and I am convinced that we will reach an agreement.”

Yet Vítek allegedly withdrew his consent to the nascent agreement at the last moment. “Yes, it is possible to say that at the moment we are more distant from reaching an agreement,” Vítek told the server Aktualne.cz on Tuesday. And he told the portal iHNed: “The insolvency proceedings will continue. There’s no agreement on the table.”

We will come to know the details of the rescue plan drawn up by Sazka’s current top management by the end of the week at the earliest. “[The company] and selected financial partners are at the present time finalizing agreements on the forthcoming steps,” Hušák said in Tuesday’s press release. “All the parties concerned have agreed that a press conference will take place at the moment when everything is concluded formally too.”

Autor: