CSG Group becomes 100% owner of DAKO-CZ

DAKO-CZ was 49% owned by Tatravagónka. It sold its stake to CSG (Czechoslovak group), making it a 100% owner of the company. Lukáš Andrýsek is the new director of the company. The price of the transaction has not been made public.

DAKO-CZ is one of the most successful companies of the CSG Group. Revenues from 2020 climbed to CZK 1.26 billion. CSG Vice Chairman David Chour would not disclose the exact amount for the transaction. He only disclosed that the amount lays between the hundreds of millions of crowns.

With the change of owner comes a change of staff. The new director of DAKO-CZ is Lukáš Andrýsek, who replaces Dagmar Matúšová. She has now become the HR director of Tatravagonka.

The reason for the purchase of Tatravagónka from DAKO-CZ is the strategy of both companies, which want to specialize in their segment. Tatravagónka is one of the largest manufacturers of freight wagons with about 30 percent share of the European market. CSG is a manufacturer of braking systems for rolling stock. By buying part of DAKO-CZ's shareholding, David Chour added that CSG is currently not interested in acquiring or building its own capacity in the wagon area.

After 1989, DAKO-CZ fundamentally changed its product orientation and gradually became a globally important manufacturer of braking systems and components for trams, metro or railway vehicles. Customers include Siemens, Stadler, Bombardier or Škoda Transportation.

CSG was founded in 2008 by entrepreneur Jaroslav Strnad. In 2018, he transferred ownership to his son Michal. Tatravagónka joined DAKO-CZ as a minority shareholder with a 49% share in spring 2014. CSG supports traditional Czech and Slovak companies engaged in defence and civil industrial production and trade. In 2020, sales in amount of CZK 25.7 billion were generate.

Tatravagónka is based in Poprad, Slovakia. This company is mainly engaged in the production of freight railway wagons. It holds around 30% of rail carriage production on the European market. It also offers intermodal carriage in its portfolio. The owner of the company is Alexei Beljayev.