Adria Airways has absorbed the company STBE through a merger and acquisition. The move increases the airline's share capital and changes its ownership structure. As a result of the merger, Adria's share capital has increased by 1.5 million euros to 3.28 million and its majority ownership (54.3%) has been passed onto Stefan Beulertz, a lawyer residing in Malta, who was until now the sole owner of STBE. The company, which is closely linked to Adria's owner 4K Invest, purchased the Slovenian carrier's brand name in 2016 for just over eight million euros. Up until now, Adria was solely owned by AA International Holding, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the 4K turnaround fund. AA International will continue to hold a share of 45.7% in Adria. It is hoped the merger and acquisition will help boost the airline's finances, with the company expected to post a loss of up to fifteen million euros for 2018.
Adria Airways said its strategy and day-to-day operations would remain unchanged under the new ownership structure. "The merger by acquisition on behalf of STBE is one of the measures to improve the company's financial strength and performance", the carrier said in a statement. Struggling with liquidity issues, Adria was supplied with a four million euro cash injection by 4K Invest late last year. A further ten million euro capital hike has been promised for the first quarter of this year and the abovementioned merger is believed to be a part of this operation. Adria was recently scrutinised by Slovenia's Civil Aviation Agency for insolvency. However, last month the regulator noted the airline was able to secure long-term liquidity.
Meanwhile, as EX-YU Aviation News learns, Adria Airways has also registered its own maintenance, repair and overhaul business. Named Adria Airways Super MRO aircraft maintenance, the company was registered in late December of last year with starting capital of 7.500 euros. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Slovenian carrier. It is believed the establishment of the new MRO business is linked to the Memorandum of Understanding signed between Adria and Russian plane manufacturer Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company in November of last year, which outlines for the set up of a SSJ100 aircraft Maintenance and Repair Organisation in Ljubljana. Adria's former MRO business, Adria Tehnika, was sold to Poland's Linetech Holding in 2015 for two million euros. Adria is expected to firm up an order for fifteen SSJ100 aircraft later this month or in earlt March with first deliveries expected in April. The airline recently advertised job openings for SSJ type-rated pilots.
Desperate times call for desperate measures.
ReplyDeleteIt all looks very dodgy!
ReplyDeleteWhat company sells half of its shares and doesn't even officially announce it anywhere?
ReplyDeleteA company that doesn't want it to be brought to the public's attention. You can guess why.
DeleteThis is NOT a stock company! But is a limited liability company that has an owner that can sell or get new investors as he wants. And this are not shares and note that the half of company was not sold but rather the capital was added!
DeleteSo the superjets are coming after all. If they have set up an MRO company for it.
ReplyDeleteAnd they are hiring pilots as well.
DeleteAnd all of this doesn't mean jack.
DeleteThey have a company with minimum required capital to even register a company. A functional MRO is months away, if not more. They need a CAA approval for MROs, engineers, etc.
DeleteIt probably won't start functioning straight away. My guess is the Sukhois will undergo maintenance somewhere else for some time while with Adria.
DeleteBut that's a serious draw back. What if there is some minor technical issue with the plane (which seems to be common with Sukhois). No one would be able to do anything about it in LJU.
DeleteYou do not need an on-site MRO for daily maintenance. Minor issues (line maintenance) can be fixed by any licenced (for SSJ) engineer with a toolbox.
DeleteWhy didn't they just include Adria Tehnika in the project?
DeleteAdria Airways Tehnika was sold some years ago, to cover losses in Adria.
DeleteAdria Tehnika does not want to do serious business with a scam.
It was a non-financial strategic asset but they rather gave it away. The same as the airport.
DeleteAccording to ch-aviation, Russian Severstal will also receive SSJs in the same time as Adria. Now we have just to grab pop-corns and watch who is lying.
DeleteThere are 3 SSJ parked at BEG A/P.
DeleteSorry, correction: 4 SSJ's are on Jat Tehnika ramp! Btw, some of their engineers already have tech training course for SSJ!
DeleteEvery piece of Adria news is like watching a soap opera unravel and there is always a cliffhanger so you don't know what will happen next. One day they announce purchase of Sukhois, the next they are opening new routes, then they are closing the new routes, then they open a new base, less than 100 days later they close the base, now they do some murky merger and acquisition.
ReplyDeleteEach soap opera has an ending. Unfortunately I think Adria's is approaching.
DeleteBold and the Beautiful has been dragging on for years and years and years.
DeleteSince 1987!
DeleteIf you google Stefan Beulertz stuff from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists Offshore Leaks Database comes up.
ReplyDeleteWell the first red flag is that the company is registered in Malta :)
DeleteYep he is featured in the Paradise Papers.
DeleteAnything featuring Malta these days is very dodgy, makes the situation in the Balkans look rosy. Adria employees should really be looking elsewhere if it's come to this.
DeleteTo be fair, there is a lot of legit business in Malta...
DeleteI really wonder why people aren't leaving this sinking boat en masse.
Some very decent businesses have branches and/or daughter companies registered in Malta and operating under Maltese legislation, where btw salaries taxation is set on rather high amount and practically all "normal" salaries for workers are tax-free. Last example in aviation is Lithuanian Avion Express (18 units A320/321, world's biggest ACMI short-haul operator), which has just registered its new long-haul branch (2 units A330) in Malta
DeleteNot saying everything ok and "clean" in Adria case, but we need to be fair as it's simply not true that "anything featuring Malta these days is very dodgy"
DeleteTell that to the murdered journalist, Panama and Paradise papers, the links to Azerbaijan and the Billionaires buying EU passports from them.
Delete@pozdrav: gledaj. Stvarno poštujem tvoje enciklopedijsko znanje, ali sad malo previše relativiziraš. Da. Sigurno ima na Malti dobrih i poštenih tvrtki. Ali ima ih i na Siciliji. A kad je u pitanju JP, nakon svega što se dogodilo nakon ulaska K4 i kad čujem Malta, jedino mogu pomisliti da nešto smrdi.
DeleteI will tell nothing to no one. Malta is not the only country with murdered journalist, it happened in both Croatia and Serbia as well, for example. Links to specific non transparent countries and particular criminal cases/affairs happen everywhere too, Scandinavia included, for example again. Billionairs can do anything anywhere, including obtaining citizenships, which is nothing very special and is not happening in Malta only. But some people cannot accept being wrong and think that all Croatians are Ustashe and all Serbians are Chetniks. And of course entire Malta equals criminal only, no exception.
Delete@Athos
DeletePa ne tvrdim da je sve ok i cisto sa Adriom i Maltom. To sam i napisao. Ali jednostavno nisam od onih koji pristaju na kokektivizaciju krivnje, bilo koga za bilo sto. Pa covjece ne mozes stavit znak jednakosti izmedju normalne EU drzave i kriminalne organizacije, sto neki ovdje tvrde
Nothing surprises me anymore from JP.
ReplyDeleteAnd what is STBE's primary business? What is it that they do?
ReplyDeletemoney laundering?
DeleteThey are holding company and a company that manages intellectual property.
DeleteAnd they suddenly bought a stake of over 50% in an airline in Slovenia...
DeleteI hope 4K sells 100% of Adria to someone not involved in any way with 4K.
ReplyDeleteVery difficult to find anyone willing to buy an airline is such financial state.
DeleteSo Adria is now a Maltese-German company :D
ReplyDeletesteta za takvo lijeo ime. ADRIA...neka promjene ime. recimo u Mulj(ator) Air.
ReplyDeleteThey could consider flights to Malta now ;)
ReplyDeleteHas Adria ever flown to MLA?
DeleteJP operatated charter flights in summer seasons for many years to MLA
DeleteGermans residing and registering companies in Malta, this Beulertz guy being appointed as director of a company named Bluo Beta Equity Ltd. (of course in Malta too), which has been dissolved after 8 months of his appointment etc... Seriously Slovenia? Are you that desperate?
ReplyDeleteA true flag carrier :) Pretty sure Lufthansa, BA, KLM, etc. all have such shady business.
DeleteWell on the bright side at least they won't have to pay to lease their brand name anymore.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't be even sure of that.
DeleteThis is murkier than the Danube.
ReplyDeleteTelenovela.
ReplyDeletehttps://offshoreleaks.icij.org/nodes/56038438
ReplyDeleteSo will this change anything at Adria?
ReplyDeleteNot according to Adria
Delete"Adria Airways said its strategy and day-to-day operations would remain unchanged under the new ownership structure. "The merger by acquisition on behalf of STBE is one of the measures to improve the company's financial strength and performance", "
This is just 4K reshuffling money from one of their entities to the other.
ReplyDeleteWe shall probably now hear from Purger that Lufthansa is behind STBE
ReplyDelete:D :D :D
DeleteJust another day for aviation in Slovenia
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately this thing with Adria has really become a comedy.
DeleteHow many companies or affiliated companies does 4k have?
ReplyDeleteThe right balance to keep the scavenging going for as long as possible (sudden insolvency) and to not attract too much attention.
DeleteSo, how will the insolvency happen? My guess is quick and overnight, like Germania. And the director is nowhere to be found, just a short statement from 4K: "Tried and did our best, but it just wasn't meant to happen" Maybe they will blame it on someone, make a smokescreen: "Some people wanted to run this airline into the ground and despite our best efforts they succeeded. A shame the justice system and politics in Slovenia are so corrupt to let this happen"
DeleteAnd then over the following days and weeks all the various companies in Slovenia will start reporting just how much Adria owes them, and we will learn of all the various ways that 4K used to get as much money out of Adria (Saabs, brand name lease, and so on..)
Unfortunately I think it will be like you said. An overnight thing. When Germania went bust the other day many media wrote a list of airlines on the edge and Adria was featured in all of them.
DeleteAnd of course no one will blame the Civil Aviation Agency, instead of making sure that the scam ends as fast as possible it let companies in Slovenia to further accumulate debt towards Adria/4K, which will never be paid
DeleteNo one seems to have noticed the sentence that a loss of up to 15 million is expected for 2018!
ReplyDeleteIt's surprisingly low considering everything that's been going on...
DeleteIt would be their second worst result on record. Worst was 2010 when they had - 63 million.
DeleteThey probably used some creative accounting to lower it.
DeleteI suspect that amount is not fifteen but fifty million...
DeleteFew days ago I have found article talking about fact that many airlines hide amounts paid/owned for compensation from financial reports. Maybe they did the same considering massive amount of cancelation they had.
DeleteSo what now for JP?
ReplyDeleteBalkan business model.
ReplyDeleteThis is a good indication to me that they will sell Adria soon.
ReplyDeleteUmm they sold over 50% of it :D
DeleteSTBE is the same as 4K. One of their companies, just not on paper.
Deleteso the same guy bought brand name, which means he is actually behind this for a very long time and not lufthansa. what a suprise!!!!
ReplyDeletei am shocked now, some articles pointed that evil genius, that dr. morirarity/barzini of aviation, was behind this scheme all along!!!
and instead we have this 2nd rate hustler. what a disappointment this is!
You really think this guy is independent from 4k?
DeleteIndependent or not, this whole thing is just some low level scam.
DeleteShocking that a national flag carrier would end up in the hands of some street hustlers
@10.11 of course he is involved with 4k. that is what i am actually saying in the post, i don't know how it can be any more clearer than this.
Deleteor you meant to wrote that he is independent from lufthansa?
Sooner or later all of those ex-Yu airlines that survive will be part of Lufthansa group.
DeleteThe sooner the better if you ask me!
DeleteI wouldn't be so sure.
DeleteThey may learn something about actual profitability.
DeleteDon't get why people are shocked by this?
ReplyDeleteNa kraju ce ostati od svih kompanija samo Montenegro :D
ReplyDeleteOni barem ne kriju da su u katastrofalnom stanju, a ovi drugi jesu, a prave se da nisu.
DeleteThis is a typical tax evasion scheme. This is not a real Maltese company and that is a Nominee Director, real owners are hidden.
ReplyDeleteIt's surprising that so few Slovenian media reported this.
ReplyDeleteIt's a private company. Why should they care?
DeleteBecause that private company just got over 4 million euros to fly to Brussels directly from the Slovenian government and because many other companies, some of which are state owned, depend on Adria.
DeleteThey wouldn't depend as much if they didn't allow Adria to accumulate so much debt...
DeleteTrue. It's quite surprising they tolerate them if they have so much debt owed towards them.
DeleteI hope one day will be clear who in Slovenian politics is behind this "give-away" of a national asset from one pocket to another.
ReplyDeleteNational asset? What kind of assets did Adria own at the time of sale to 4K?
DeleteAircraft? Leased. HQ bulding? Under heavy mortgage....
They might register a maintenance company but MRO is not certified Part 145 yet. Source, caa.si.
ReplyDeleteConsidering they registered the company in late December, it will take some time for that to happen.
DeleteCapital share increased to +3 mio which is less then its estimated weekly operational cost. It's like a family home budget increased from 1.5K to 3K. What a joke!
ReplyDeleteReally unfortunate. I don't know what to think about Adria anymore. Is there a light at the end of the tunnel?
ReplyDeleteOnly light would be 4K selling Adria.
DeleteStefan Beulertz
ReplyDeleteHis name appeared in the so-called Paradise Papers, published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) at the end of 2017. In 2006, Beulertz established six companies based in Malta, a tax haven.
His company STBE ought to pay eight million euros for the brand, but Adria never saw this money. A company which was not formally affiliated with Adria at the time returns the purchase price to it by deducting license fees each year.
TBE generated revenues of approximately 2.2 million euros in just one year. With the current dynamics, in just a few years, they would pay the entire purchase price, after which the royalties would flow in the net profit.
Adria, on the other hand, remained not only without a significant portion of its assets, but also lost the insignificant income received by STBE from the end of 2016.
Now the Germans have decided to return their brand due to bad economic conditions. After having already produced eight million euros of capital on paper 2016, which has generated another million euros of capital again.
Sad.
ReplyDeleteI have a filling they are trying to scam the Russians as well. This usually doesn't end well:)
ReplyDeleteBravo Slovenija?
ReplyDeleteSijecam se kako je Purger svakog dana pisao ovdje o situaciji u Air Berlinu-u prije njegovog bankrota i ako to veze nije imalo sa temom. Ne vidim ga nesto sada da iznosi cinjenicno stanje u vezi Adrije i ako je to po temi blize nego Air Berlin. Ne znam zasto se toliko radovao Air Berlinu kad je toliki narod izgubio poso tamo gore u Njemackoj.
ReplyDeletePa vrlo je prosto.
DeleteAir Berlin je bio u delimicnom vlasnistvu Etihada.
Ko je jos u regionu u delimicnom vlasnistvu Etihada cijoj bi se propasti radovali i sa "strucnog aspekta" je analizirali?
1+1=2
Adria nije zabavna, ona je deo Star Alliance kao i neke druge kompanije u regionu
Adria ce uspjeti i postati novi Air Dolomiti
DeleteAir Dolomiti is wholly owned subsidiary of Lufthansa, are you confirming LH is behind 4K?
DeleteApparently some circles believe that Adria sponsored by Maltese off-shore holdings and flying 20 Sukhois will become a new Air Dolomiti in the LH group. Other circles just think that Adria sponsored by such Maltese off-shore holdings regardless of 20 Sukhois will end up like Darwin. Take your pick.
DeleteNapisao sam i objavio 6 clanaka sa ukupno 108 stranica teksta o Adriji i 4K, te dao 25 intervjua o tome. Nije li to dovoljno?
DeletePozdrav iz Cancuna, Mexico
Who would have thought that the Germans would turn this into such a mess.
ReplyDeleteIt was a mess before the Germans came too.
DeleteIt has nothing to do with nationality but with professionalism. Simply, 4K Invest has NEVER managed or run an airline before Adria. The aviation industry is quite a difficult business and different from many others. Hiring former Etihad Regional executives obviously didn't do the trick.
Delete