Hartenberg Holding, an investment company co-owned by former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, has become the sole owner of Adria Tehnika, an aircraft maintenance company that used to be part of the now defunct Slovenian flag carrier.

Hartenberg Holding has been the sole owner of Adria Tehnika since mid-June, taking over the ownership from Avia Prime, a Polish company where Hartenberg holds a 72% stake.

Company to stay in Slovenia

The ownership change has resulted in tweaks to the management with deputy chief executive officer Barbara Perko Brvar taking over as new CEO, but Adria Tehnika will remain headquartered in Brnik, adjacent to Ljubljana airport, and all its business operations will be kept there.

The change in the ownership structure will enable Adria Tehnika, which maintains and repairs large aircraft, greater flexibility and resilience in the highly competitive market, the company said in announcing the change on 16 July.

"The company is keeping its headquarters and all business functions in Slovenia and is not only keeping jobs but also looking for new employees as it expands its business," Adria Tehnika added.

Growing business

Having 256 employees, Adria Tehnika has long-term partnerships in Easyjet, Swissair, Air France, Lufthansa and other airlines. It will operate nearly at its maximum capacity for the remainder of 2024.

Adria Tehnika has been seeing a 10% growth of business compared to last year. The latest publicly available data is for 2022 when the company posted €821,000 in net profit on nearly €38 million in sales revenue.

The company announced investment in additional hangar capacity and equipment in the 2025-2030 period.

Hartenberg Holding is owned by a private fund incorporated by former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš and Jozef Janov, who sits on the Adria Tehnika management board.

The holding has invested in pharmaceuticals, real estate, aviation and retail in Central Europe, including several real estate projects in Ljubljana.

Adria Tehnika privatised in 2015

Spun off from Slovenia's former flag carrier Adria Airways in 2010, Adria Tehnika was first sold to a state-run fund and airport operator Aerodrom Ljubljana in February 2011 as a way to help the struggling air carrier.

As part of a major privatisation drive, Aerodrom Ljubljana was then sold to German Fraport in 2014 and Adria Tehnika was acquired by the Polish Linetech Holding for around €1 million in November 2015.

Adria Airways was sold to the German turnaround fund 4K Invest in March 2016 and declared bankruptcy in September 2019.