Palladio Finanziaria purchased the Koper-based car parts manufacturer for a symbolic sum of €100,000. The shareholders’ meeting is scheduled to take place on May 15. After the meeting, the purchase money will be transferred to the bank account of Slovenia’s bad bank, which owns a 47.5% stake in the troubled car parts manufacturer.

In late February, when the Croatian government said it expected Palladio Finanziaria to preserve all jobs in Cimos’ Croatian subsidiaries, the equity fund said it would withdraw from the purchase of Cimos. However, Palladio Finanziaria later confirmed it was still interested in buying Cimos. It appears that US multinational company HTT, the largest buyer of Cimos’ products, was pushing Palladio Finanziaria to buy Cimos. The equity fund purchased Cimos for a symbolic sum because it will take over €110 million worth of the company’s debt. Moreover, it is expected to invest €50 million in Cimos over the next three years. Layoffs have also been announced. The group employs around 4000 people, among them 1500 in Slovenia.

After Cimos’ shareholders approve the sale of the company, Slovenia will acquire Cimos’s bad loans from Croatia’s bad bank for around €7 million. The sale of Cimos is expected to be finalized by late May.

Nataša Ugrin Tomšič, Radio Koper; translated by D. V.