Jaroslav Strnad raises CZK 3.6bn for CE Industries fund

Jaroslav Strnad, father of the Czech Republic’s richest man, Michal Strnad, has raised more than CZK 3.6 billion from investors in the first round of placement of the CE Industries & Aerospace fund, which he founded this past June. As he had promised earlier, the entrepreneur himself has kept a controlling stake in the fund and remains its main investor.

The first stage of placement was aimed at qualified individual investors, who must meet legal requirements and commit larger sums than ordinary retail investors. The fund is now moving into standard open mode, in which shares can be purchased continuously — at the end of each calendar quarter.

“The result of the first placement period is a very good start for the fund’s further work. That said, it’s important to stress that we are only at the beginning of the journey,” said Vít Bozděch, commercial director of Tiller, the investment company that manages the fund. According to him, the plan for the coming quarters is to attract new investors and expand the distributor network.

The fund’s capital will go to two groups of Strnad’s companies. The first is the industrial holding CE Industries, which brings together around thirty firms with three thousand employees and revenue approaching ten billion crowns a year. It includes the Croatian railcar maker Đuro Đaković, the engineering company MICo, Czech Precision Forge, as well as the food brands Kaumy and Fruta Podivín.

The second group — Helicopter Alliance — handles the modernisation and servicing of Black Hawk helicopters for armed forces and rescue services. It also includes the American company Ace Aeronautics, which has a plant in Alabama.

Jaroslav Strnad is the founder of Czechoslovak Group, which he handed over to his son Michal in 2018, while he himself has since been building up his own CE Industries group.