Possible sale of LRH: Lürssen reportedly considering withdrawal from Liburnian hotel business

The Zagreb Stock Exchange, but also throughout Liburnia, has been hit by news of a possible sale of a majority stake in Liburnia Riviera Hotel (LRH) to Gitone Adriatic. Yesterday, LRH shares ended the day on the stock exchange at a price of 690 euros, which means that they achieved a jump of as much as 18,97 percent.

LRH announced that "received notification from its majority shareholder, Gitone Adriatic, which holds 215.605 shares in the company, or 71,2 percent of the company's share capital, that Gitone is considering its investment in the company after "receiving informal indicative proposals from third parties", reports New List.

The stock exchange announcement states that Gitone hired "professional advisors for the establishment of a structured process and inviting a large number of potential investors to evaluate all strategic options that may, among other things, include the sale of all or part of his share in the Company". It is then concluded that these processes may or may not result in a transaction related to Gitone's shares in LRH.

Behind the largest shareholder of LRH - the company Gitone Adriatic - stands the German group Lurssen, which holds a majority 71,2 percent stake, while 25 percent plus one share is held by the company Nova Liburnija, which is owned by the City of Opatija, and the municipalities of Lovran, Matulji and Mošćenička Draga. Smaller stakes in LRH are held by CERP and small shareholders.

Liburnia Riviera hotels are among the largest hotel companies on the Adriatic, with 13 hotels, two villas, two apartment complexes and one camping resort where they can host almost 5000 guests a day.

Novi List asked the mayor of Opatija for a comment on the new situation. Fernanda Kirigina who replied that he was aware of the announcement on the stock exchange. He says that LRH board member Johannes Boeck called him personally to confirm the information after it was published.

"A possible ownership change has been unofficially mentioned in the public for some time, and this shows that those stories were in some way true. Now, it has obviously turned into something more concrete and it seems that the majority owner has certain intentions in that direction. It is difficult to say at this point what this will mean for the City, as a co-owner, and for Opatija as a destination. If a certain ownership change occurs, it could mean several potential scenarios: it could mean the status quo, worse, or it could perhaps be better, that someone comes in who is much faster at investing, which is what the public is striving for here", the mayor of Opatija told Novi List.

Kirigin believes that if several hotels were renovated and their branding was raised to a higher level, the destination itself would likely be recognized differently.

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