Tykač owns 3% of Czech utility ČEZ, is its second-largest shareholder

Czech businessman and owner of the Sev.en energy group Pavel Tykač owns 3% of shares in ČEZ, worth around CZK 19.4 billion. He holds the shares through Cyprus-registered company Belviport Trading. Tykač reported this to the Czech National Bank (CNB). Ekonomický deník drew attention to this today. Website Kurzy.cz noted that no minority shareholder in the company has held such a large stake over the past ten years.

In recent weeks, the government has announced a plan to buy out all minority shareholders, which would give the state full control of the energy company. The state holds around 70% of ČEZ shares through the Ministry of Finance, while minority shareholders own the remainder. With 3% and nearly 16.16 million shares, Tykač is therefore ČEZ's second-largest shareholder after the state.

According to the daily, Tykač began buying up ČEZ shares more than four years ago. In February 2022, he announced that he held more than 1% of the shares, subsequently signalling his intention to purchase up to a further nine million shares, which would have increased his stake to as much as 2.67%. However, Belviport later withdrew the plan in view of market conditions and the outbreak of the war between Russia and Ukraine.

It is not yet clear how he ultimately increased his stake to 3%. According to the daily, Tykač may have taken over the stake from investors Petr Nešetřil and Tomáš Kaňka, with whom he has long cooperated. These investors were also among the company's largest minority shareholders.

Other major minority shareholders in ČEZ include PPF Banka, with a 1.69% stake, according to Kurzy.cz. Chase Nominees, Clearstream Banking and Abaretia Holdings also hold more than 1%, according to the website. However, some of these companies hold shares for other owners.

Since taking office, the government formed by ANO, SPD and the Motorists has repeatedly announced a plan to take full control of the ČEZ energy group. The state should buy shares from minority shareholders, and according to Industry and Trade Minister Karel Havlíček (ANO), it will take the first steps this year. He did not specify any concrete measures, although an amount of around CZK 250 billion has been discussed in the past. The opposition has long criticised the plan.

ČEZ is the largest energy company in Czechia. It earned CZK 21.5 billion in the first three quarters of last year, with the group's net profit falling by around 6.5% year on year. The company is expected to publish its full-year 2025 results next week.