A transaction is concluded within which Erste Card Club Ltd. (ECC), based in Zagreb, has acquired 100% ownership of companies Diners Club International Belgrade Ltd. and Diners Club International Mak d.o.o.e.l. from Skoplje, while it has also indirectly taken over companies Diners Club International Montenegro Ltd. from Podgorica and Belgrade’s DC Travel. Approvals were previously obtained from the competent regulatory bodies and formal legal requirements have been fulfilled relating to the contract on the sale of business shares between Luxembourg-based SKB Capital S.A. and ECC, signed in November 2016.
ECC has thus officially taken over the exclusive right to issue and accept Diners Club cards – responsibility for the further development of the Diners Club brand and the future of its operations on the territories of Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro. The transfer of the licenses and entrusting of development on these markets to ECC received the approval and endorsement of Diners Club International, as the franchisor.
“We are pleased that the completion of the transaction has been realized successfully, within the deadline announced upon the signing of the contract in November 2016, which further confirms the seriousness of our intentions. We can now dedicate ourselves completely to achieving the main goal, and that is the further development of Diners Club operations on the markets of Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro, as well as ensuring the provision of top services to clients,” underlined Marija Radonić, Deputy President of the Management Board of ECC, responsible for regional operations. “Our developed business model and successful operations on markets, not only in Croatia, but also Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania, where we have been present since an earlier period, represent a strong guarantee of our determination and dedication to achieving these goals, in accordance with the strategy of further strengthening our regional presence on the territory of Southeast Europe,” concluded Radonić.
Obrad Sikimić, until recently the head of Diners Club in Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia, who has spent more than 25 years actively working on positioning the Diners Club brand in mentioned countries, will act as a president of Supervisory Board in DCI Belgrade in the next five years. ECC will present a detailed business strategy for Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro in the following period.