Atlantic pursues fresh acquisition in western Europe

BELGRADE (Reuters) - Croatia's Atlantic Grupa (ATGR.ZA) is working on an acquisition in western Europe as its room for growth in the former Yugoslavia becomes limited, founder and Chief Executive Emil Tedeschi told Reuters in an interview.

Tedeschi said the price would be in the double-digit millions of euros, without elaborating.

"Because our brands have such high market share here locally, room for growth is limited," he said. "We are looking for growth in northwest Europe - organic and inorganic."

Tedeschi said Atlantic could also explore the possibility of bidding for arch-rival Podravka (PODR.ZA) if the Croatian government were to reduce its 25 percent golden share.

And he said his company may develop a new sports bar for U.S. multinational Herbalife (HLF.N) after a previous 10-year contract came to an end, putting a dent in Atlantic's sales and profits this year.

Atlantic Grupa owns four of the top 10 consumer brands in the former Yugoslavia, according to regional market research group Valicon: Cedevita vitamin drinks, Argeta fish and meat spreads, peanut-flavoured corn snack Smoki, and Cockta - Yugoslavia's 1950s answer to Coca-Cola.

(Reporting by Georgina Prodhan)