Darko Knez leaving “Agrokor” – The Croatian “Meteor Group” gains a new co-owner.

The ambitious “Meteor Group” from Djakovo has recently gained another co-owner. Together with Ante Raspudic, the court register of the Croatian Ministry of Justice registered Darko Knez as a co-owner of the company at the beginning of April. He is currently a management member of Ivica Todoric’s “Agrokor” concern.

Two well informed, unofficial sources confirmed to “tporal” that Knez is exiting “Agrokor”. His leaving is surprising, as he was given a place in the management by Todoric just six months ago, as an award for having had run “Konzum” successfully for eight years. His new position places him in charge of the development of the entire retail network spanning Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro.

The managerial president of “Meteor Group” Ante Raspudic confirmed for “tportal” that Knez had become a minority owner of the company as a private investor.

Besides having a status as a member of the company, he has no other operative functions or obligations in “Meteor” or its subsidiaries – Raspudic stated, without explaining how the cooperation had come about.

Raspudic drew public attention in 2015 when he bought “Labud” from Zagreb and “Badel” from Sisak. Merging “Labud” and “Meteor” created the second biggest producer of cleaning products after “Saponia” from Osijek. Through buying “Badel” Raspudic acquired the production of liquors and vinegar of the “Kisko” brand.

Raspudic has also shown interest in taking over “Badel 1862” from Zagreb, but he will only make the final decision after a thorough analysis.

He plans to have “Meteor Group”, with its 250 employees, make a profit of 250 mil HRK (around 33 mil EUR), and to invest 7-8 mil HRK (around a million euros) in the production in the next two years.

METEOR d.o.o. Đakovo

Fortenova grupa d.d.

Labud d.o.o. Zagreb

BADEL 1862 d.d. Zagreb

Meteor Group Djakovo

ANte Raspudic

Darko Knez

Agrokor

Ivica Todoric

Labud Zagreb

Badel Sisak

Badel 1862