The Slovenian trading company Mercator has invited potential investors to purchase its six-month commercial papers, aiming to raise 20 million euros in fresh funds for business financing.
The commercial papers will be issued on January 29 of this year with an interest rate of 4.5 percent plus six-month Euribor. This is the fourth time in the last two years that the largest Slovenian company and the first trader in the country, as well as one of the largest in the region, is seeking fresh funds through commercial papers, and the promised interest rate is higher than in previous occasions.
Simon Mastnak, director of the Alta group, which is conducting the sale of commercial papers for Mercator, told Ljubljana’s Delo on Friday that this reflects the situation where financing Slovenia on the international financial market has become more difficult, thus Slovenian companies must offer higher yields to potential investors.
– The issuance of commercial papers in no way means that Mercator is in trouble – said Mastnak.
He added that the financial crisis has clearly shown that it is essential for companies to have more ‘open doors’ for obtaining fresh funds, as banks are limiting their lending activities due to the crisis.
