The news that the Czech billionaire and richest man in Eastern Europe Petr Kellner was killed in a helicopter accident in the United States went around the international media on Monday. Shortly afterwards, the first comments appeared on what would happen to his empire – the investment group PPF, which turned him into a billionaire, and who could inherit his net worth, estimated at $ 17.5 billion from Forbes.
Shortly after the company confirmed the death of its owner, management issued an official statement as to who would succeed Kellner. Then it became clear that he would be replaced by Ladislav Bartonicek, who is one of the three shareholders in PPF.
Who heads PPF after Peter Kellner?
The investment fund indicated that one of the two remaining shareholders will be a manager
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Peter Kellner owned 98.93% of the fund’s shares, and Bartonicek and the third shareholder Jean-Pascal Duviesart – 0.5% each.
According to Jaroslav Mašek, editor-in-chief of the leading Czech business publication Hospodářské noviny, the absence of Petr Kellner at the helm of PPF will be felt in the direction in which the fund will take.
“The company has tens of thousands of employees and capable managers who will be able to run it on autopilot for a while. On the other hand, Mr. Kellner was a leader who was very active in management. He lived in Prague and went to the PPF office every day. to work there. His absence will soon be felt when it comes to strategic decisions. “ he commented to Radio Prague.
What will be the future of PPF and who can succeed Peter Kellner?
According to Jaroslav Mashek, the investment fund now faces two options. One is for the new leader of the group to be confirmed and for Peter Kellner’s family to be involved in the management so that it remains in the hands of family members as a non-listed company.
“The other alternative is to sell individual divisions of the PPF Group. But this is not an issue that will be resolved within weeks. Instead, we are talking about a period of between 2 to 3 years, during which the future of PPF will become clear.” he thinks.
Apart from who will take the helm of one of the largest Czech conglomerates, managing assets worth 44 billion euros, there is also the question of who will inherit Petr Kellner’s private wealth. So far this is not clear, but it is logical that his second wife Renata and his four children should be the first.
According to notaries quoted by Czech media, the procedure for sharing the 17.5 billion euros of wealth of the Czech tycoon will take months. In more controversial and complex situations, the procedure can take years. The main question is whether Peter Kellner left a will. In the absence of such, his direct heirs are his wife and children, who will be among the richest people in the Czech Republic and Eastern Europe.
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Why is an Eastern European billionaire investing in one of the most losing sectors in the United States?
Within a week, he bought part of two American chains with losses of hundreds of millions
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Before that, it became clear that businessman Daniel Kretinski, who manages $ 4 billion in assets, was currently in first place in the country. Its holding includes 70 companies, including the energy company EPH. Peter Kellner is one of the people helping Kretinski build his business, which includes a stake in the Metro chain.
How did Peter Kellner become the richest Eastern European?
Kellner is one of the entrepreneurs who managed to make the most of the first business opportunities after the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, related to the privatization process in the former Czechoslovakia.
In the early 1990s, Kellner, who rarely had public appearances and hardly spoke to the media, became a co-founder of the Czech First Privatization Fund. Through PPF, together with the other shareholders in the fund, the state-owned company was previously privatized.
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Peter Kellner officially became the owner of bTV by the middle of the year
CME expects the deal to be completed by the summer
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The group is rapidly expanding its operations, entering markets in Slovakia and Russia and investing in various sectors – from telecommunications, through banks and insurance, to the mining industry.
To date, the PPF fund owns the lender Home Credit, as well as a group of telecoms in Central and Eastern Europe, including Telenor in the region and in Bulgaria, as well as O2 in the Czech Republic. Since last year, the group is also the owner of the media Central Media Group, which includes 30 TV channels in the Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, as well as in Bulgaria in the face of the media in the bTV group.
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