Czech Billionaire’s Family Office: Former Penta Manager Takes Lead

After the successful entry of the arms company CSG on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, Michal Strnad became the richest Czech. The value of CSG currently amounts to about 750 billion crowns, with Strnad owning roughly 85 percent of the company’s shares.

During the sale of Strnad shares as part of the stock market entry, he received approximately 74 billion crowns. He will use a smaller part to pay off debts and intends to place the rest in his family investment office (investment family office). According to Seznam Zpráv Byznys, it will be headed by CSG investment director Marek Šmrha. “It’s an interesting opportunity. Michal Strnad is the richest person in the country, so there will be investment opportunities,” adds a source from business circles.

CSG itself did not comment much on the whole matter. “We will not comment on the questions at the family office of Mr. Michal Strnad at this time,” commented CSG spokesman Andrej Čírtek. Šmrha himself did not respond to questions sent regarding the strategy of the family investment office.

Smrha is no newcomer to Michal Strnad. Since July last year, he has been working as investment director of CSG and helped Strnad, for example, with the purchase of the football club Viktoria Plzeň. Today, he holds the position of vice-chairman on the board of the West Bohemian Club and is responsible for the financial stability of the entire club.

However, he spent the longest part of his career in the Penta investment group, where he joined in 2011. During his fourteen years at Penta, he participated in a number of transactions. According to him, the most complex project was the restructuring and sale of the aircraft manufacturer Aero Vodochody, which lasted almost two years and was completed in the middle of 2021. The company was eventually taken over by Richard Háva’s arms company Omnipol.

He was also in charge of the betting group Fortuna Entertainment Group, which he prepared for sale several times. According to him, during his tenure, Fortuna’s gross operating profit (EBITDA) climbed from the original 15 million euros to almost 200 million euros.

“I am proud of the fact that Aero Vodochody was saved. These were really difficult years and I consider the result a great success,” Šmrha told Hospodářský novinín last year after leaving Penta.

Smrha was part of the generation that in Penta formed a bridge between the old era of founders led by Jaroslav Haščák and Marko Dospiva and the new form of the group. It started at a time when Penta functioned as an active private equity investor, i.e. it bought companies, merged them and then sold them. Gradually, however, the group founded in 1994 transformed from a predatory investment platform into a conservative holding with a focus mainly on retail, healthcare, and real estate development.

The task of Michal Strnad’s family office will be to diversify investments and protect family assets, which are now mainly focused on the arms industry.