Slovenia has kicked off its distress privatisation programme with the sale of a majority stake in Helios, an industrial coatings manufacturer, to Austria’s Ring International Holding. The purchaser had to deal with no fewer than 14 sellers, and Houlihan Lokey, Ring’s adviser, says that buyers in future Slovenian deals may expect to do much the same.
Once the whizz kid of the Balkans, Slovenia is now in the economic doghouse. With exquisitely bad timing, it joined the eurozone in 2007, and its debt-funded boom has since turned to bust. Like other eurozone peripherals, its banks have suffered high rates of non-performing loans, now reportedly equivalent to 20% of gross domestic product (GDP), and are badly in need of recapitalisation. The state is heavily entrenched in the economy, with stakes – often majority stakes – in more than 80 companies, including the largest banks. By one estimate, 80% of the economy is in state hands.
