Agrofert company headquarters in Prague in a picture from December 28, 2018.
Brussels – The European Commission will approve the takeover of the division of the Austrian chemical company Borealis for the production of fertilizers by the Agrofert group without reservations. With reference to a familiar source, Reuters reported about it. The Austrian company, which is part of the OMV group, said in a press release last year that Agrofert offered 810 million euros (CZK 19.1 billion) for the takeover. ČTK is trying to get Agrofert's statement.
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The company Borealis initially wanted to sell the division for the production of fertilizers to the Russian concern EuroChem for 455 million euros. However, it fell out of this agreement due to Western sanctions against Russia. A few months later, Agrofert won the new tender. Thanks to the takeover, the Czech group would double its fertilizer production. With a production of eight million tons per year, it would become the second largest producer of fertilizers in Europe after the Norwegian company Yara, APA wrote.
Holding Agrofert brings together almost 200 companies. It operates in the chemical industry, agriculture and food industry. In addition, it owns forestry companies and also does business in land technologies and engineering, logistics, transport and the media. Until February 2017, Agrofert was owned by the chairman of the ANO movement, then a member of the government and later prime minister, Andrej Babiš, who put his shares into trust funds due to the Conflict of Interest Act. However, according to the State Registry of Beneficial Owners, Babiš is the real owner of the holding, and still controls it according to the European Commission's audit.
