State-Backed MCC Buys Majority Stake in Libri Bookshop Chain Around Hungary
- 14 Jun 2023 10:16 AM
- Hungary Around the Clock
The state-backed Mathias Corvinus Collegium foundation (MCC) has purchased a 67.5% stake in the Libri bookshop chain from SQ Invest, thereby increasing its stake to 98.4%, Libri announced on Tuesday.
The MCC purchased a minority stake in Libri from Zoltán Spéder in March 2021.
The MCC said it wants to act as a strategic-financial investor and to provide added value to the Libri group.
Libri’s professional management with decades of experience in the book market will remain in place, it said.
In addition, the owner of SQ Invest, Ákos Balogh, will be on the Libri board of directors.
As the acquisition of a major player on the book market, the transaction must be approved by the competition authority GVH.
Libri has 57 shops across Hungary, supported by an online store.
CEOs Péter Kovács of the Libri Group, and Bence Sárközy of Libri’s publishing unit denied that the sale to the MCC will lead to a rightward political shift in the company’s offers.
MTI photo: Zoltán Balogh
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