Mercator said in the statement that it had informed the national regulatory agency for securities and the PL management of its plan already on Thursday, adding that it planned to carry out the takeover in 2012 and 2013.

To take over the brewery, the already indebted Mercator would need about EUR 500 million, which it intends to collect from shareholders' equity, international sources and disinvestment in real estate.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is being mentioned as a potential international source, but Mercator has not contacted it yet on the matter.

Mercator said it would submit its bid for Pivovarna Lasko within the legally prescribed deadline of 30 days, but not in the next ten days.

Some Slovenian media speculate that the latest move by Mercator's management is an attempt to block Marcator's sale to the private Croatian concern Agrokor because PL owners now cannot continue ongoing activities regarding the sale of the brewery's stock in Mercator to Agrokor before considering Mercator's bid for the takeover of the brewery.

Some media report that Mercator's bid for Pivovarna Lasko is realistic and that it is a part of a strategy that has been prepared for a long time by Mercator director Ziga Debeljak.

The business paper Finance of Friday describes the latest developments as a clumsy attempt at manipulation by domestic business and political circles which it says do not want to give up their control of state companies, noting that taxpayers could end up paying the cost of such policy in the form of new recapitalisation of state-owned banks.

The biggest single shareholder in the Pivovarna Lasko brewery is Nova Ljubljanska Banka (NLB), holding a 23.9 per cent stake, but it is also one of the biggest creditors of the brewery whose loans revolve around EUR 400 million.

The other owners of Pivovarna Lasko are Hypo bank with a 7.2 per cent stake, Gorenjska Banka with 6.3 per cent, Banka Celje with 2.1 per cent and a number of other smaller Slovenian banks.