Czech billionaires play outsized role in European M&A market |
Czech billionaires play outsized role in European M&A market
When Czech billionaire Michal Strnad bought a stake in Italian tire giant Pirelli & C. SpA last week, the transaction was heralded as a key moment for the company. It also cemented his home country’s position as Eastern Europe’s leader in foreign investment.
Strnad, who made his money from the arms industry, is part of a new generation of superrich who are giving the Czech Republic an outsized role in European mergers and acquisitions, helping drive a shift in the local economy as they outgrow their home market.
While there’s a similar pattern in larger neighbor Poland, the Czech investment activity reflects a trend going back more than a decade as the nation’s per-capita gross domestic product moved closer to that of France and Italy.
“For us, the Czech Republic is simply too small in terms of the sectors we operate in,” David Becvar, chief operating officer at MTX Group, the industrial conglomerate owned by billionaire Petr Otava, said in an interview in Prague. “There just aren’t enough companies we could pursue through acquisitions in the fields we are interested........