Protej is a company owned by ACH Group managers. The most profitable part of the group in the Novo Mesto-based RV manufacturer Adria Mobil.

According to the newspaper Finance, Adria Mobil has seen a growth in group-wide earnings by 23 percent last year. That amounted to 212 million euros. Profit increased by 31 percent to 14 million euros. The company has approximately 1300 employees.

Trigano is considerably larger, with reported earnings of 1.3 billion euros up to the end of August, 89.7 million dollars of gross profit and more than 5000 employees. Its largest markets are in western and northern Europe. The company trades on the Paris Stock Exchange.

In April of this year, the Swedish group Kabe expressed interest in Adria Mobil or a 25-percent share in Protej. However, despite a rapidly approaching deadline, several Protej owners managed to come up with 11 million euros and take advantage of their right to first refusal. The Swedish company then withdrew its offer. This turn of events caused a rift within ACH, between a group centered around the former ACH Chairman of the Board Herman Rigelnik and a group centered around the CEO, another former Chairman of the Board, Sonja Gole.

Last September, the shareholders supporting Rigelnik – who control approximately 60 percent of Protej – put Adria Mobil up for sale. Apparently, they have now begun talks with the French company, even though Sweden’s Kabe had been favored by Gole.

A. Č.; Translated by J. B.