Agrokor has dropped its non-binding bid to purchase a 52.1-percent stake in the Slovenian retail chain Mercator, the private Croatian food and retail concern reported on Tuesday evening.
Agrokor said in a press release that the decision to retreat from a possible deal was made after the failure to agree with the selling party on the satisfactory conditions for the acquisition of 52.1 percent in the major Slovenian retailer.
The Croatian company recalls that on 17 October 2011 it submitted its non-binding bid for the purchase of an interest in Mercator after the announcement of an international tender, which was conducted by the ING bank on behalf of a consortium of main shareholders in Mercator.
On 7 November 2011, Agrokor's bid was chosen as the best one and Agrokor launched exclusive negotiations on the terms and conditions of the acquisition.
The possible sale of Mercator to Agrokor was met with opposition trade unions of workers from the retail sector, the then Slovenian finance and agriculture ministers as well as by some other politicians. Furthermore, Mercator's management also showed reluctance saying that it should be taken into account that Agrokor was Mercator's biggest rival in the entire region of the Western Balkans and that upon the performance of the transaction, Mercator might become dependant on Agrokor given the current structure of Mercator.
