Jaroslav Haščák: Penta eyes billion-euro expansion into Asia

Penta co-founder Jaroslav Haščák, almost two years after returning to the company's day-to-day management, is rolling out what may be the most ambitious expansion in its history: investments running into billions of euros across Asia, Italy and Greece, alongside a plan to turn the bookmaker Fortuna into one of the biggest players in the global betting market.

In a lengthy interview with Slovak Forbes, Haščák said Penta is ready to invest around €3 billion (more than 70 billion crowns) in the Italian market, where it is negotiating to buy roughly a thousand pharmacies. At the same time, the company is eyeing a hospital network in Greece, though the deal still looks too expensive — it would cost the group more than half a billion euros.

Equally ambitious are the plans for the Dr. Max pharmacy chain — already the biggest player in the European market — to enter the Philippines, a move that could cost Penta at least €2 billion. Vietnam and Indonesia are also in focus as promising new markets for the pharmacy business.

Haščák is paying particular attention to the bookmaker Fortuna: just two years ago it was seen as an asset up for sale, but now Penta is negotiating its entry into the fast-growing betting markets of Vietnam and the Philippines. The goal is to build one of the world's largest bookmaking companies, and investment in this project will likewise run into billions of euros.

In addition, together with the Norwegian co-owners of the Slovak aluminium plant Slovalco, which is awaiting state support, Haščák plans to enter the Vietnamese market and invest at least 5 billion there (likely crowns or euros — the context does not specify, but the scale is striking).

The entrepreneur himself calls Fortuna's strategic pivot toward Southeast Asia his single most important decision of the past two years: the company is already close to sealing a deal in the Philippines, is negotiating with the market's fourth- and fifth-largest players, and is preparing to apply for a licence in Vietnam.

By the Around Prague newsroom