Is Slovenia taking over Mercator?

(Patria) - The idea of returning Mercator under Slovenian ownership has been revived in Slovenia, regional media report.

According to the Ljubljana-based newspaper Delo, the idea of a possible takeover of Mercator and its return to Slovenian ownership has allegedly been relaunched in the Ministry of Economy, as a result of a new episode of ownership complications in which Fortenova Group, the majority owner of Mercator, found itself after the recent entry of Arab investor Saif Bin Markhan Alketbi into the ownership structure.

For this reason, the general meeting of Fortenova could not be held on Monday and was postponed to next week. This, according to Delo, also means a certain degree of uncertainty for Mercator, and the Ministry of Economy is closely monitoring ownership manipulations.

The idea of taking over Mercator first appeared in 2017, when Agrokor, as its owner, faced bankruptcy proceedings with the intention, as explained, to protect business operations and jobs. This was followed by years of various attempts to restructure the company and change its owner, which eventually happened.

The Croatian government previously announced that it is interested in the business operations of Fortenova Group and that they are monitoring its activities with the aim of protecting Croatian interests.