The Czech holding Geosan has acquired the Slovak construction engineering company Váhostav-SK. The agreement was signed on Thursday and the transaction will be completed after approval by the antitrust authorities in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
“As part of its deliberations, Geosan Construction Holding has long considered a strategic entry into the Slovak construction market, as well as strengthening the holding’s competence in infrastructure construction,” said Luděk Kostka, sole shareholder and board member of Geosan investiční, which controls the Geosan Group.
The Geosan Group bought Váhostav-SK, including its subsidiaries, through its company Geosan Construction SK. The purchase price was not disclosed.
Behind Váhostav-SK is the businessman Juraj Široký, the former head of the Slovak branch of the Harvard privatization funds. Široký has already started selling his companies in the past and got rid of the leading Slovak hockey club Slovan Bratislava.
The Slovak press describes Široký as an entrepreneur who is close to the Social Democrats (Smer-SD) of the Slovak former Prime Minister Robert Fico. After the defeat in last year’s parliamentary elections, Smer-SD left for the opposition and after an internal party split, part of the deputies, led by former Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini, left.
Váhostav-SK builds highways in Slovakia, for example. In 2014, the company got into financial difficulties, which resulted in judicial restructuring. In response to the problems of Váhostav-SK, which did not pay its suppliers at the time, Slovakia tightened the restructuring rules, which previously allowed companies to write off a significant part of their debts.