"ComTrade" became owner of Slovenian "Hermes" - 21% of stocks of newly formed group belongs to UniCredit group

(Veselin Jevrosimović)

IT company from Serbia - "ComTrade group", and Slovenian software company "Hermes SoftLab" have officially announced strategic merger of these two companies.

The stockholders of "Hermes" have accepted the offer for takeover of that company, which was submitted by "ComTrade" on March 18, and that made the company from Serbia the 100% owner of Slovenian company.

President and owner of "ComTrade", Veselin Jevrosimović, pointed out that the merger would result in creation of the company with 1,600 employees, annual incomes in amount of 300m EUR and presence in 14 countries.

"ComTrade" provided the funds for this takeover with the help of "UniCredit group", which made it the minority owner of 21% of stocks of newly formed group.

Jevrosimović did not want to specify the value of the takeover.

He pointed out that the aim of "ComTrade" was to become one of the largest IT companies in western Europe within next five years, as well as that it would appear on one of the leading European stock exchanges by means of initial public offer within next few years.

Jevrosimović pointed out that the company had new takeovers in the pipeline and that it was currently negotiating with two companies from Poland.

The Head of the Administration of "Hermes", Gregor Smrekar, pointed out that that company expected larger presence in the region from that strategic merger, as well as access to the markets where "ComTrade" is present and larger presence on the markets of USA and Near East.

He said that "Hermes" would continue with its activities and that it would keep its trademark.