Business is gradually reuniting the former Yugoslav market

IT DID not get much attention outside the region, but the €243m ($326m) takeover of Slovenia’s Droga Kolinska by Croatia’s Atlantic Grupa, completed on November 23rd, was the biggest corporate deal the Balkans has seen for years. Droga Kolinska’s food brands—from Argeta pates to Soko Stark chocolates and crisps—were attractive to Atlantic because, like its own brands—from Cedevita health drinks to Plidenta toothpaste—they are names that consumers across the former Yugoslavia will remember from their childhoods. Many of the brands being bought come from Serbia, the most populous ex-Yugoslav country.

Croatian commentators have been the first to contest suggestions that a “Yugosphere” is re-emerging, as trade, cultural and personal links grow between Yugoslavia’s seven successor states. However, Croatian companies, Atlantic especially, have been the most enthusiastic in forming such links. Emil Tedeschi, Atlantic’s chief executive, says that with the takeover of Droga Kolinska his firm’s sales in Croatia will fall to just 33% of the total, with 48% coming from the rest of the former Yugoslavia and the remainder from elsewhere. On their own, the seven countries are too small for such an ambitious company; together, with a combined population of some 22m, most of whom share a language and history (albeit a troubled one), they make an attractive market. …