The EBRD is providing a €10 million loan to Atlantic Trade d.o.o. and its subsidiary Atlantic Multipower d.o.o., for the construction of a state-of-the-art protein bar factory in the Croatian city of Nova Gradiška. The EBRD’s funding consists of a €10 million loan provided under the Local Enterprise Facility, alongside a €6 million equity investment from Atlantic Trade d.o.o.
Atlantic Trade is a subsidiary of Atlantic Grupa, Croatia’s second largest food and beverage producer. Atlantic Grupa is leading the company’s activities, among others, towards two highly successful sectors – sports food and functional food. The construction of the new factory will allow the company to produce protein bars which were previously made by third-party suppliers. The new production will also create jobs in one of Croatia’s less developed areas.
Atlantic Grupa is a long-standing client of the EBRD, and the Bank has supported the company’s growth for many years. Atlantic Grupa operates regionally and internationally, with its products also performing successfully on markets such as Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom.
Miljan Zdrale, EBRD Head of Agribusiness CSEE, said: “This investment is expected to create long-term sustainable competitive advantages for the company thanks to local production, enhanced flexibility and improved margins. We have been working with Atlantic Grupa for many years and are confident this new project will be another successful example of our cooperation.”
“The latest investment in the protein bar factory in Nova Gradiška represents a successful continuation of our partnership with the EBRD. This is an exemplary project highlighting the EBRD’s crucial role as an investor. The investment in the new factory creates new value by constructing, manufacturing, employing and ultimately exporting to markets worldwide,” added Zoran Stanković, Vice President for Finance and Information Technology at Atlantic Grupa.
The EBRD investment comes under the Local Enterprise Facility, a €400 million facility for investments in enterprises in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, FYR Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and Turkey, as well as countries in the southern and eastern Mediterranean region (Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia). It provides a wide range of flexible financial products, including equity, quasi-equity and debt financing to address the needs of companies.
The EBRD has been active in Croatia as an investor since the country’s independence and has invested some €2.9 billion in over 160 projects to date. The Bank’s activities include all areas of the economy and are especially strong in the infrastructure, corporate, financial institutions and energy sectors.