Agrokor has not yet reported the concentration with Mercator

The Agrokor Group has not yet reported the concentration related to the purchase agreement of Mercator to the Slovenian market competition regulator, which it must do by the middle of this month at the latest, the Slovenian Press Agency STA reported on Tuesday.

On June 14, Agrokor signed a purchase agreement with a sales consortium of 12 banks, funds, and companies for their 53 percent stake in Mercator at 120 euros per share. It was announced that the transaction, which totals around 240 million euros, will be realized by the end of the year, partly because it is necessary to obtain approval from regulatory authorities in several countries where Agrokor and Mercator operate.

As of Tuesday, Agrokor has not reported the concentration to the Slovenian competition protection agency, confirmed the Slovenian competition regulator for STA, stating that they have not yet had any contact with the Agrokor Group or any of its companies.

According to Slovenian law, the concentration must be reported to the regulator no later than 30 days from the conclusion of the purchase agreement, from the announcement of a public offer, or from the moment of acquiring a controlling stake in the company being taken over. Thus, the 30-day deadline for Agrokor to report the concentration runs from the 14th of last month and expires in the middle of this month, STA reports.

The fact that Agrokor has not yet reported the concentration to the Slovenian regulator is considered “strange” by local experts, STA notes. They justify this assessment by stating that the Croatian group has been preparing for the acquisition of Mercator for several years, and given that obtaining approval from the Slovenian regulator is crucial for Agrokor to secure financing from its partners in this deal, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), as well as financial funds Blackstone and One Equity Partners, STA reports, which could not obtain a comment from Agrokor.

The director of the Pivovarna Laško (PL) group, Dušan Zorko, stated for STA that the timing of when PL will secure its funds from the deal depends on the dynamics of executing the agreement with Agrokor, as PL aims to settle part of its debts by selling Mercator shares.

Zorko added that he hopes all events will proceed as agreed and stated in the consortium’s contract with Agrokor.

If any of the signatories do not adhere to the agreement, it could lead to the termination of the contract, Zorko added.

Zorko expressed his belief that the signatories will respect the contract and that it will be realized. In that case, the Pivovarna Laško group would settle part of its debt to the banks and stabilize its operations. The PL group holds nearly a quarter of Mercator’s shares. Zorko stated that the money from the sale of nearly a quarter of Mercator’s shares held by Pivovarna Laško would likely be paid directly into the accounts of the banks to which PL owes money.