The investment group Penta, which is developing the area around the Masaryk railway station in Prague, wants to buy ČSAD Praha Holding through Penta Real Estate. The company owns the Florenc bus station and the surrounding land. The merger is being assessed by the Office for the Protection of Competition (ÚOHS) in a so-called simplified procedure, and a decision will be issued within 20 days. The companies have not disclosed the price of the transaction. Penta also completed work on two nearby buildings called Masaryčka on Monday. The group's long-term intention is to unify the entire area by ownership, writes the daily e15.cz.
Penta Real Estate is buying the parent company of ČSAD Praha Holding, Rextim Holding. According to e15.cz, the importance of this company for Penta lies mainly in gaining land for development activities; Penta should also operate the Florenc bus station through the future subsidiary. Penta Real Estate and ČSAD Praha Holding already cooperated on the future development of the area two years ago when they announced an urban planning competition for the area around the transport hub at Florenc and Masaryk Station. The winning design for the Nová Florenc would connect the diverse urban worlds of Prague's surrounding districts - Nové Město, Karlín and Žižkov. The Florenc bus station stands on lucrative land in the Nové Město and Karlín districts. In the past, the Penta Group wanted to buy the land of ČSAD Praha Holding, which is adjacent to the station.
Penta presented an urban planning study for the development of the large brownfield site near Masaryk Station by Zaha Hadid Architects in May 2016. After initial positive feedback, the study became the subject of a fierce social debate. Last year, Penta and ČSAD Praha Holding, with the support of the Prague Institute of Planning and Development, launched a new urban planning competition for a part of the land near the Florenc bus station. In total, Penta is investing CZK 10 billion (€407 million) in projects around the station.
Penta Real Estate also completed work on two buildings near Prague's Masaryk railway station on Monday. The total investment reached CZK 2.5 billion (€101.7 million). Construction work on the rebuilding of the Masaryk Station tracks should begin at the end of the first quarter of next year, with construction expected to take over two years. "Then we are also waiting to see what will happen further towards Florence. Zaha Hadid's original designs included spaces leading further towards the bus station. There we are waiting for a change in the zoning plan," Lánský said. Lánský did not comment on the acquisition of ČSAD Praha Holding, which owns the station.
ČSAD Praha Holding was founded in 2004 and is the successor of the defunct ČSAD ÚAN Praha Florenc and ČSAD Praha Pankrác. Rextim Holding was established in 2006. For 2022, it reported a total turnover of CZK 423 million (€17.2 million), with an after-tax profit of CZK 358 million (€14.5 million).
