Following Croatian Mercator, Fortenova Also to Acquire Other Regional Ones?

After Mercator sold to its owner, Fortneova, Mercator H this December, which was merged with Konzum, Mercator’s other companies in the region could go the same way, writes the Slovenian Delo daily and adds that, due to the increase of the costs of energy and salaries, Mercator is also facing difficulties with liquidity.

– According to unofficial information, Fortenova could also consolidate within its direct ownership Mercator’s companies in Serbia, Montenegro and B&H, for example, the Serbian Mercator S through recapitalization – Delo writes and adds that Mercator has not responded to the question of whether it will sell its other companies to Fortenova as well, Poslovni Dnevnik reports.

– As part of Fortenova Group, Mercator will remain a strong brand in foreign markets and be included in all the key processes for achieving even bigger business and capital results. The company remains the leading retail network in Slovenia and the most important partner to Slovenian suppliers – says Mercator, which buys over half a billion euros worth of products from Slovenian suppliers each year.

Delo writes that Mercator is financially dependent on Fortenova, with which it signed a loan agreement worth EUR 285 million in 2021 for the refinancing of debts in a total of 55 banks.

The estimate is that the net financial debt of EUR 835 million has already been reduced to 600 to 700 million, but the new problems are the growing costs of energy, labor costs, purchase prices…

Although the Slovenian economy minister, Matjaz Han, in the light of the events surrounding the Fortenova purchase, announced the possibility of buying out Mercator, Delo estimates that the idea is quite unrealistic considering the increasingly tighter bonding with the owner, which the ministry will welcome “as long as there are as many as Slovenian products on the shelves and as long as the rural stores and jobs are preserved”.

With nearly 9,000 employees, Mercator is the biggest Slovenian employer and an important buyer from Slovenian suppliers, and, as Delo states in the title of the article, it could go back from being a regional trader to a local one, the B92 site reports.

Fortenova grupa d.d.

Poslovni sistem Mercator d.d. Ljubljana

Mercator-S d.o.o Beograd

Ministry of Economy of Slovenia

Fortenova Group

Mercator

Mercator H

Mercator S

Konzum

Matjaž Han

buyout of Mercator

acquisition of Mercator

sale of Mercator H