Sberbank’s Potential Fortenova Sale Gains Steam After Sanctions

(Bloomberg) -- Sberbank PJSC’s stake in the biggest retailer in the Balkans has attracted interest from several suitors, according to two people familiar with the negotiations, as the Russian lender retrenches after getting slapped with sanctions over the war in Ukraine.

Indotek-Investments, a fund controlled by Hungarian businessman Daniel Jellinek, is among the potential buyers and is conducting due diligence for Sberbank’s 43% stake in Fortenova Grupa d.d., according to two people familiar with the negotiations, who asked not to be identified as the talks are private.

A spokesman for Indotek didn’t immediately comment on the potential deal, while Sberbank’s press service declined to comment. Due diligence for the Russian bank’s stake Fortenova has begun, the Zagreb-based company’s spokesperson said Friday, without elaborating.

Jellinek has done a series of deals with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s son-in-law, Istvan Tiborcz, most recently this month when he sold a controlling stake in Diofa Asset Management to BDPST Zrt., which is Tiborcz’ main investment vehicle.

Sberbank, Russia’s biggest lender, was sanctioned last month in response to President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. The bank is the single-biggest stakeholder in Fortenova, which has food production and retail units in Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, and North Macedonia.

Sberbank’s European banking units earlier this month unraveled after the sanctions caused a run on local deposits in a number of countries. Its Austria-based unit was liquidated under local insolvency procedures, while all shares in its Croatian and Slovenian subsidiaries were transferred to other firms in those countries, according to the Single Resolution Board, which handles failing European lenders.

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