Pursuant to the published final ruling of the Commercial Court of Zagreb, the Extraordinary Administration Procedure in Agrokor has been closed and Agrokor d.d. has been erased from the Court Registry.
With its Ruling dated 19th July 2022 the Commercial Court of Zagreb has established that with the legally effective amalgamation of 46 non-viable companies to the debtor Agrokor d.d. as transferee the Settlement Plan of Agrokor’s creditors shall be considered implemented and the Extraordinary Administration Procedure over the debtor Agrokor d.d. closed. One of the world’s major restructuring-through-bankruptcy proceedings, recognized as such on an international level, has thus been successfully completed, after having gained legal legitimacy in the European Union, United Kingdom, the USA and Switzerland. During the Extraordinary Administration Procedure the overindebted Agrokor, although in bankruptcy, continued its business with all operations and full employment having been preserved in the process. At that point the system employed over 50,000 people in SE Europe and its failure, due to its impact on thousands of associated companies, would have had severe negative consequences on the economies of Croatia and all countries of the region.
The Extraordinary Administration Procedure in Agrokor had commenced on 10th April 2017 and comprised a total of 77 Agrokor subsidiaries. The company’s total debt at that point amounted to HRK 56 billion, with a debt to operating profits ratio of around 30 times and only six kunas on its accounts. Within only a year’s time the Extraordinary Commissioner Fabris Peruško and his team normalized the operations and completed negotiations on the creditors’ settlement, and the Settlement Plan was adopted with over 80 percent of the creditors’ votes in July 2018 and declared final and non-appealable in October 2018.
The most important result of the Extraordinary Administration Procedure, besides the accomplished settlement and preserved business operations, was the fact that during the Procedure itself the debts to a total of 2400 micro and small suppliers were settled in full, while other creditors’ recoveries amounted to 60 percent on average. All payments to suppliers and the overall costs of stabilizing the collapsed operations were settled from Agrokor’s operations and assets, without spending any Croatian tax payers’ money. At the same time, the Extraordinary Administration Procedure received international legal protection and with the TMA Award the international financial industry declared it to be one of the world’s best restructuring processes in 2018.
With the cessation of Agrokor’s existence, the authorities and duties of Fabris Peruško in his capacity as Extraordinary Commissioner under Art. 12 of the Act on Extraordinary Administration Proceedings in Companies of Systemic Importance for the Republic of Croatia, i.e. his rights and obligations as the debtor’s administrative body and representation authority shall cease.
“We can rightfully be proud to have completed one of the most important economic processes ever to have taken place in Croatia, with impact on the entire region. It was a challenging and complex process; the scope of work was enormous and the deadlines short. During the very difficult settlement negotiations we had to reconcile the frequently diametrically opposed interests of the different creditors. In our attempts to reach an agreement that would be acceptable to everyone, we had to face tensions, renouncement and compromises. Finally, the high percentage of support provided by the creditors to the Settlement Plan at the hearing and everything that we have done thereafter in transforming the company towards Fortenova Group, bear witness to the fact that we have had the knowledge and the determination required to manage this complex process. The Government of the Republic of Croatia, the financial creditors, suppliers, employees, myself in the capacity as Commissioner and our entire team have exerted exceptional efforts for the Extraordinary Administration Procedure to secure viable operations for a company that had practically been bankrupt. This was the basic assumption for everything that we have done in the period of three and a half years since the incorporation of Fortenova Group, which we have brought to a point where it has five billion euros of revenue, a leverage ratio of less than 4 times and the status of one of the most desirable employers and major investor across the region. I would like to thank everyone who has made a personal constructive contribution to the Extraordinary Administration Procedure, the Government of the Republic of Croatia that had nominated me for the responsible task of the Extraordinary Commissioner and the Commercial Court of Zagreb that appointed me. I take particular pride in the fact that today, together with the team in which there are numerous colleagues who also took part in the Extraordinary Administration Procedure, I run a company that has, thanks to the positive changes, successfully overcome all the challenges that we have been faced with” – said Fabris Peruško, Fortenova Group’s Chief Executive Officer and Member of the Board of Directors, on the occasion of closing the Extraordinary Administration Procedure and the completion of his role as Extraordinary Commissioner.
