Consolidation of growth strategy in the grocery retail chain market in Croatia

Deal Flash

Lonia Trgovina, the leading retail chain in the smaller, convenience format category, has been acquired by Studenac, the fastest-growing retail chain in Croatia.

Lonia has a retail network of more than 300 stores (80 of them owned by the Jaram family) and a turnover of over US$110 million. This acquisition will complement Studenac’s geographic coverage and transform the company into a fully fledged nationwide player, and the one with the highest number of stores.

In June 2022, we completed the sale process of Lonia Trgovina, and we would like to thank all our partners who we collaborated with for many years, as well as all of our employees with whom we jointly built Lonia over many decades. Special thanks go to Oaklins, our advisor who managed the whole process. Without their tremendous experience and professional leadership we would not have been able to get through the many challenges we faced at crucial moments of this complex sale process. KRSTE JARAM, OWNER, LONIA TRGOVINA, CROATIA

Oaklins played a pivotal role in arranging this deal

Oaklins’ team in Croatia acted as the exclusive sell-side advisor to the Jaram family, the owners of Lonia. Before the transaction all stores owned by the Jaram family were carved out into a separate real estate company with which long-term lease agreements were concluded, thus securing a new revenue stream for the family.

Read more about the transaction, market trends, deal drivers and M&A valuation aspects