Istrabenz to sell Droga Kolinska prior to end of year?

- Within the scope of sale of the companies in its portfolio, Slovenian holding Istrabenz is thinking about the sale of Droga Kolinska again - it is written in today's issue of Finance.

The analysts were of the opinion that Istrabenz would sell Instalacija, the company for storing oil derivatives, to reduce its debt by about 100m EUR, but the only thing that is now for sure is that it will sell certain number of its companies.

The sale of Droga Kolinska was announced in November 2008, but the official sale has never been advertised.

Droga Kolinska will be offered for sale by French bank BNP Paribas, with with the consent from the President of Istrabenz's Administration, Igor Bavčar, who allegedly issued the order for sale over six months ago.

So far, none of the potential strategic partners has expressed interest in takeover of Droga Kolinska, while private investment funds are most usually mentioned as potential buyers.

One of the possibilities that were mentioned earlier is Droga Kolinska's merger with Croatian Podravka or Belgrade-based Centroproizvod, but people in Slovenia find such mergers impossible.