New shareholder for Jindrichuv Hradec local railways
There has been a change in shareholder structure of Jindřichohradecké místní dráhy (Jindrichuv Hradec Local Railways or JHMD). The new
There has been a change in shareholder structure of Jindřichohradecké místní dráhy (Jindrichuv Hradec Local Railways or JHMD). The new shareholder is businessman Jan Kysela, who, according to a document in the collection of instruments, also became a member of the company’s board of directors.
The change was confirmed to CEETransport.com by Kysela and the chairman of the board of directors and the largest shareholder to date, Boris Čajánek. Kysela bought the shares from Railway Capital (owned by Jan Šatava), Igor Hoření and Jan Hruška. He claims to own 21 percent of JHMD shares. Kysela is active in the field of new technologies and IT, among others.
Of the original shareholders, Boris Čajánek and Vladimír Jindřich have remained. Kysela plans to comment on the details of his plans, the future of the company and the possible further transfer of shares after his meeting with employees.
At its own request, JHMD was under court protection from creditors for almost the entire second half of last year. That ended in early December, when the company announced that negotiations to secure its long-term future would be concluded by the end of the year.
The company was under threat of a forced shutdown of operations, as the Rail Authority has been conducting administrative proceedings since October to revoke JHMD’s authorization to operate rail transport on the grounds of financial ineligibility.
A change in shareholders has averted this threat so far. The Rail Authority issued a decision suspending the administrative proceedings until the end of March. “The proceedings were suspended on the basis of a request by the participant Jindřichohradecké místní dráhy, which in its request for suspension presented new facts, namely information on the improvement of cash flow through the provision of financial resources by shareholders,” said Pavlína Straková, spokeswoman for the Rail Authority.
JHMD owns and operates 79 kilometers of narrow gauge lines. Transport is contracted with the South Bohemia Region (50 km) and the Vysočina Region (29 km). Relations with Vysočina in particular have long been strained. While JHMD claims that it is underfunded by the region, the region has always maintained that it has been fulfilling all its contractual obligations.