Czech tycoon Tykac rises to No.2 shareholder in CEZ with 3% stake

Prague, March 6 (CTK) - Businessman Tykac owns 3 percent of shares in semi-state energy group CEZ worth around CZK19.4bn, held through Cyprus-based Belviport Trading, he has announced to the Czech National Bank (CNB), daily Ekonomicky denik said today.

The Kurzy.cz server pointed out that none of the company's minority shareholders had held such a large stake in the last ten years.

In recent weeks, the government announced a plan to buy out all minority shareholders, which would give the state full control over the energy company. The state holds approximately 70 percent of CEZ shares through the Finance Ministry, with the remainder owned by minority shareholders. With the 3-percent stake of almost 16.16 million shares, Tykac is CEZ's second-largest shareholder after the state.

According to the newspaper, Tykac began buying up CEZ shares more than four years ago. In February 2022, he announced that he held more than 1 percent of the shares, subsequently announcing his intention to purchase up to nine million additional shares, which would increase his stake to 2.67 percent. However, Belviport later withdrew its intention in view of market conditions and the outbreak of war between Russia and Ukraine.

It is not yet clear how Tykac ultimately increased his stake to 3 percent. According to the newspaper, it is possible that he took over the stake from investors Petr Nesetril and Tomas Kanka, with whom he has been working for a long time. These investors were also among the company's largest minority shareholders.

According to Kurzy.cz, other major minority shareholders in CEZ include PPF Banka, with a 1.69 percent stake. According to the server, Chase Nominees, Clearstream Banking, and Abaretia Holdings also hold more than 1 percent. However, some of these companies hold shares on behalf of other owners.

After taking office, the current government of ANO, SPD, and Motorists announced several times its plan to take full control of CEZ. According to Industry and Trade Minister Karel Havlicek, it will take the first steps toward this goal this year. He did not specify any concrete measures, but there has been talk of a sum of around CZK250bn. The opposition has long criticised the plan.

CEZ is the largest energy company in Czechia. In the first three quarters of last year, it made a net profit of CZK21.5bn, down by 6.5 percent year-on-year. The company is expected to publish its results for the whole of 2025 next week.

tam/er