History
About us
KAPRAIN is an investment group founded in 2013 by Karel Pražák, who was a member of the PPF group for almost 20 years and worked very closely with Petr Kellner during this time.
Karel Pražák’s approach to doing business differs from other investment group owners in our market in several aspects. To build the group, he leverages his advanced business sense. He gained his experience by extensively studying the local environment and undertaking numerous successful projects over many years. His clear goal is to create an investment group with a reputation for being bold, always going for the goal and taking advantage of all opportunities the Czech and Slovak markets have to offer.
2022
More Than a Half a Million Households Get Internet from Nej.cz
KAPRAIN has completed its acquisition of SMART Comp. This transaction has resulted in its subsidiary, Nej.cz, reaching third place in the domestic fixed internet market, with 236,000 active lines and more than 500,000 households connected.
2021
KAPRAIN Brings a Roller Coaster to Prague
KAPRAIN has opened the largest indoor amusement park in the Czech Republic as part of ongoing development of the POP Airport entertainment and shopping centre. Children and their parents can visit 12 rides including a 220-meter roller coaster and the longest indoor slides. The park, its individual attractions, and the entire accompanying program are themed around popular children’s characters Maya the Bee, Willi, and Vic the Viking.
KAPRAIN Acquires Náchod-based Rubena
KAPRAIN has acquired rubber maker Rubena Náchod from Swedish group Trelleborg. Rubena supplies domestic and foreign markets with a wide range of rubber products including tyres and bicycle inner-tubes.
Dinosauria Museum Prague Opens at POP Airport Centre
The POP Airport shopping and entertainment centre continues to grow with the addition of the Dinosauria Museum Prague, which combines fossils from millions of years ago with the latest technologies and offers a unique journey into Earth’s primordial history. The museum includes several real dinosaur skeletons, some as large as 24 meters and up to 154 million years old, as well as a realistic Tyrannosaurus rex model, virtual reality exhibits, and a collection of more than 6,000 fossils and minerals.
Sparta Brings Home the President’s Cup
After a seven-year drought, HC Sparta Praha has won its third President’s Cup for the best record in the Czech hockey league’s regular season. Sparta secured the silverware with a 5-0 thrashing of Kometa Brno in the penultimate game of the regular season.
KAPRAIN Acquires Majority Stake in Spolchemie
KAPRAIN has won an auction to acquire nearly 400,000 shares of Spolchemie, increasing its stake in one of the largest Czech chemical companies by nearly 10%. It now holds the majority of Spolchemie’s shares.
2020
KAPRAIN Succeeds in 5G Auction and Expands on the Telecommunication Market
KAPRAIN has succeeded in the 5G auction of the Czech Telecommunications Office and acquired bandwidth in 3,500 MHz frequency. This will allow the company to offer high-speed internet and audio-visual content in sparsely populated areas that are usually dependent on slower and less reliable Wi-Fi connections. Kaprain has also completed the acquisitions of several competitors and now provides its services to nearly 200,000 households.
KAPRAIN Builds Gateway to Prague’s Luxurious Pařížská Street
KAPRAIN has launched the renovation of a building that was formerly home to the headquarters of the International Union of Students. The project will create about 1,500 m2 of retail space on one of Europe’s most lucrative shopping high streets. The building will also include 16 luxurious apartments and underground parking.
Harfa Business Center prepares a new office building
KAPRAIN Group has started a new phase of construction at the office complex called Harfa Business Center. KAPRAIN will double its offer of office space to lease in the vicinity of the O2 arena in Prague. The new office building will comprise 10 floors above ground and 2 underground floors with garages offering 30,000 sqm of office space, 1,500 sqm of retail space, and 300 parking places.
Premium Outlet Prague Airport is becoming a family entertainment center
Premium Outlet Prague Airport celebrated first anniversary under its new name and introduced an extensive offer of current and future entertainment attractions. Visitors can already admire the unique collection of more than 200 classic cars – Engine Classic Cars Gallery. The panoramic terrace will soon get a new interactive information system for tracking planes landing and taking-off at Prague’s airport. Dinosauria Museum Prague – a museum in preparation that will show real dinosaur fossils more than 150 million years old and also bring a lot of interactive content, including the latest virtual reality experience. Also in preparation is the largest thematic indoor amusement park in the Czech Republic – Majaland Praha.
2019
KAPRAIN strengthens its position in Spolchemie
KAPRAIN investment group has become the second largest shareholder of the Czech-based manufacturing chemical company Spolchemie, based in Ústí nad Labem. KAPRAIN gradually purchased shares from various sellers in the extent that enables the group to exercise a decisive influence.
Harfa Business Center receives its first tenants
The new office building next to the O2 arena offers its tenants 30,000 sqm of office space. As of the end of 2019, the building has been fully occupied by two companies: the specialized clinical center ISCARE and CETIN company, operator of the largest telecommunication network in the Czech Republic.
HC Sparta Praha, a new member of the KAPRAIN team
In May 2019, KAPRAIN group acquired 100% of the shares of HC Sparta Praha hockey club from its former owner and successful goal keeper, Petr Bříza. Upon the transfer of ownership, Sparta also gets new management and other team members.
New Premium Outlet Prague Airport
The outlet center next to Prague’s airport is changing its name to Premium Outlet Prague Airport (“POP”). The change of the name and strategy of this newly opened outlet center comes after the new management team started in October 2018 and the cooperation with the previous operator, NEINVER, ended in February 2019. Since March, the outlet has a new name, Premium Outlet Prague Airport. KAPRAIN group as the main investor also becomes the operator of “POP”.
2018
Nej.cz continues its acquisitions
Following its successful acquisitions of RIO Media and KT Mimoň in 2017, Nej.cz continued transactions by purchasing Telconet and Kyklop - companies providing connectivity services in northern Moravia. Nej.cz group now serves about 220 thousand households and has further strengthened its No.3 position among internet and TV content providers in the Czech Republic.
Significant Real Estate sub-group created
The expanding portfolio of real estate projects has led to the establishment of KAPRAIN Development and KAPRAIN Facility Management teams. Thanks to the two teams within the sub-group, KAPRAIN now has its own capacities for the design, development, construction and management of real estate.
Prague The Style Outlets welcomes its first customers
As planned, the new outlet center near Vaclav Havel Airport Prague opened its doors to customers this spring. KAPRAIN Group has been a major investor in the project to remodel and open the center, which is the largest outlet in the Czech Republic. Following completion of the first phase, the center opened 20,000m2 with around 100 stores in an atmosphere inspired by Prague’s old town architecture. An additional 10,000m2 will open in the second phase of development.
Renovation of Mercury Shopping Center begins
The long-term development plan for Mercury Shopping Center has been drawn up by its owner, KAPRAIN investment group. A major bus transport hub and shopping center in Ceske Budejovice with over 60,000m2 of usable area and 10,000 daily visitors, Mercury Shopping Center will undergo significant renovation. Further improvements will increase security and enhance comfort and convenience for visitors, tenants, and travelers.
2017
Start of construction in Prague - Libeň
The construction of a new office building in Prague – Libeň next to the Prague's O2 arena was officially started by ceremonially tapping the foundation stone. According to the plan, the 10-story building will have over 30,000 sqm of office space, a large underground parking area, a café, a pharmacy, and a canteen. The investors are KAPRAIN Group and Lighthouse Group.
Purchase of RIO Media a.s.
KAPRAIN Industrial Holding has acquired from ARGUS Capital its 100% share in the Czech third largest provider of high-speed broadband internet and digital television, RIO Media a.s. With the acquisition, KAPRAIN will follow up the purchase of Nej.cz and more than double the number of its customers. KAPRAIN will serve more than 200 000 households.
KAPRAIN becomes a significant creditor of Spolchemie
Through the gradual purchase of receivables from Spolek pro chemickou a hutní výrobu a.s., KAPRAIN becomes the second largest creditor and assists in financing the company's development, particularly in connection with investment in new production technology of potassium hydroxide, membrane electrolysis.
Karel Pražák assists in the sale of Eden stadium
CEFC Europe buys Eden stadium in Vršovice with the assistance of KAPRAIN’s owner. As advisor to the original owner, Karel Pražák assisted with the purchase, brokered the sale and helped to unify ownership of the stadium and Slavia football club.
Romana Benešová joins to lead the KAPRAIN group
Romana Benešová becomes the CEO of KAPRAIN investment group. Previously, she worked at consulting firm KPMG for over twenty years where she held several high-ranking positions. At KAPRAIN, she is now the second highest-ranking team member; her only superior is owner Karel Pražák.
2016
Real estate purchase and Prague Eye Towers project
KAPRAIN investment group adds to its real estate portfolio a development project for the construction of skyscrapers in Prague’s Chodov district. Planned skyscrapers called Prague Eye Towers were acquired by KAPRAIN from the PPF investment group.
Entering the Vítězné náměstí project
KARPAIN acquires a 100% share in Vítězné náměstí company. It subsequently sold 50% to Penta investment group, with whom KAPRAIN plans to build a residential building between Verdunská and Jugoslávských partyzánů streets. The instigator of the new residential project is the well-known architect studio Jakub Cigler Architekti.
Real estate purchase and Pařížská project
KAPRAIN investment group acquires the former headquarters of the International Students Union, which is located opposite the Charles University Law Faculty on Prague’s most lucrative street Pařížská . The group would like to reconstruct the building for further commercial use.
Entry into AVE CZ odpadové hospodářství
KAPRAIN investment group becomes a co-owner of AVE CZ odpadové hospodářství s.r.o., which has been operating in the Czech market since 1993. AVE CZ currently employs over 2,000 employees and is one of the largest waste management companies in the Czech Republic and Central and Eastern Europe.
Purchase of Nej.cz
KAPRAIN investment group buys a 100 percent share in Nej.cz from BKS Cable Limited located in Malta. Nej.cz is the second largest provider of cable television in the Czech Republic. In addition to cable TV, Nej.cz also provides internet connection, fixed telephone lines and mobile services for seventy thousand households.
Investing in Prague The Style Outlets
KAPRAIN invests in Prague The Style Outlets, a new outlet centre near Václav Havel Airport Prague. The centre is being built in cooperation with Spanish real estate company Neinver. It will offer a large number of stores with luxury goods. In addition, the interior should mimic the atmosphere of real Prague streets and the city’s historical centre.
2015
Investment in MAXIMA pojišťovna, a.s. insurance company
KAPRAIN invests in MAXIMA pojišťovna, a.s. insurance company, which has been active in the Czech market since 1994. The insurance company primarily offers typical insurance products, but also provides insurance for mobile devices in the Czech Republic. Maxima currently has 40 employees and is based in Prague.
Purchase of land next to O2 arena
KAPRAIN investment group buys a large parking lot next to O2 arena in Prague-Vysočany and decides to build several administrative buildings, hotels and residential buildings at the site. The group acquired the land through cooperation with Tamir Winterstein’s Lighthouse Group, which retained a minority share.
2013
Establishment of the KAPRAIN investment group
After twenty years of successful cooperation with the PPF Group, Karel Pražák decides to work independently. Following an agreement with Petr Kellner, Karel Pražák bought AB-Credit (ABC), a firm specialising in receivables trading, where he had previously worked as manager for several years. With the purchase, Karel Pražák also acquired several domestic real estate projects from PPF, on the basis of which he began building his own investment group.
