The period was also characterised by competition between the biggest players for domination of the chemical industry in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Probably the most important battle took place around the Slovak company Duslo Šaľa.
In 2004-2006, there were several reports in the Slovak media that the then little-known Agrofert group was approaching shareholders of Prezam, the employee-owned company that owns shares in Duslo, to sell their shares to it. The holding offered CZK 71 508 per share. The employees were delighted with the offer. They had been under the assumption, based on their experience in other companies, that they would never get a proper return for their shares. At the time, the money could have bought a good car or a luxury holiday, so many of them did not hesitate to sell.
Apart from more than a thousand small shareholders, the most powerful influence in Dusle was exerted mainly by the managers, seventeen of whom controlled the majority of the company through the Prezam joint-stock company. The greatest resistance to the sale of shares to new owners was put forward by Jozef Kollár, an experienced manager who liked to boast that he had put the socialist company on its feet so that after the fall of the regime he not only saved it, but also started to make a profit.
Babiš saw that he would not be satisfied with a minority stake in the company and would want to gain control over the production of the entire company, which produced many raw materials for other key companies in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Kollár, however, wanted to keep control of the management and did not trust Agrofert even professionally.
After Agrofert took over all the employee shares, however, the managers were left with few options to respond to the situation.Kollár tried to fight back mainly by pressuring politicians around Vladimír Mečiar. He warned them about the unforgiving nature of Agrofert.
Babiš, however, with the instinct of a business killer, countered with various tricks. The law firm Nitschneider & Novák began buying shares in Prezam for an apparently unknown client, Avion Gastro Invest. However, as it turned out later, this company subsequently sold the shares in bulk to Agrofert. This practice was used repeatedly by Andrej Babiš in acquisitions where the sellers refused to give up control of the company.
When Prezam handed over the majority of shares to Andrej Babiš, the rest of the shareholders had no choice. Like a surprised minority, one day they lost the floor in Duslo. Their fate was entirely in the hands of rising star Andrej Babiš. They were well aware of this, and so in 2004, after a two-year struggle, they handed over the rest of their shares to him. Even on the condition that they would receive only half of the value and the additional payment later.
Duslo has become a tool for the emerging sector leader to grow further acquisitions in the chemical sector. The company was building its position as a major employer and an entity with which the Slovak government must negotiate.
