The change of owners of the gas station network SIA “Kool Latvija” will not cause significant changes in the Latvian fuel market, the surveyed fuel traders predicted.
Armands Beiziķis, Chairman of the Board of SIA Neste Latvija, predicted that the change of ownership of the Kool filling station network will not significantly affect the fuel retail network in Latvia, as one trader is being replaced by another.
“Kool also has a relatively small market share and a network of petrol stations. It takes time to evaluate the new player’s development plans and strategy. However, we will definitely follow the new player’s activities in the market very carefully,” said Beiziķis.
Jānis Vība, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of JSC “Virši-A”, which works with the “Virši” brand, also noted that Kool’s market share in the Latvian fuel market is currently very low, therefore .
“Kool’s business model has shown in recent years that the number of stations and network coverage of the company has been insufficient to provide the company with positive profitability, so it will be interesting to see the appetite of new Kool shareholders for further investment in the Kool station network. expansion, “said Viba.
At the same time, he pointed out that the fuel market has now lost another company, at least partly owned by Latvian capital. “As a local capital company, we plan to use this circumstance purposefully to further increase our market share by continuing to implement the” Viršu “w strategic business plan, which envisages becoming the market leader in Latvia in the next three to five years,” said Vība.
It has already been reported that Aqua Marina, the holding company of the Estonian petrol station network Olerex Group, has signed a binding agreement to acquire Kool Latvija. The transaction amount is not disclosed.
According to the State Revenue Service, in the first quarter of this year, Kool Latvija was the tenth largest merchant in Latvia in terms of the amount of fuel sold in retail trade.
There are 10 filling stations under the Kool brand in Latvia, including three in Riga, as well as one each in Pinki, Babite, Adazi, Sauriehi, Augsligatne, Valmiera and Jelgava.
The company “Kool Latvija” was registered in September 2016, and its share capital is 1.24 million euros, according to “Firmas.lv” information. Kool Latvija currently has 10 owners – BaltCap Growth Fund owns 29.57% of the shares, while ZGI-3, in which the development financial institution Altum has invested, owns 16.13%. Another 18.28% of the company’s capital is owned by JSC “MEE invest”, but 16.13% is owned by JSC “Simamore”, which belongs to the law firm “Advokaadiburoo Primus” registered in Estonia. Denis Kairan, Kaspars Feldman, Stein and SIA “Arcade Invest” own 3.23% of the shares, while SIA “Duso” owns 1.61%.
In 2019, Kool Latvija had a turnover of 10.96 million euros, which is 2.2 times more than a year earlier, but the company’s losses increased by 46.5% and amounted to 1.585 million euros. The company’s financial indicators for 2020 have not yet been published.
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