The Supervisory Board of the Slovenian Pivovarna Lasko (PL) brewery on Friday failed to make a decision on the sale of the company's 23.34 percent stake in the country's biggest retail chain Mercator, PL officials confirmed after a session of the PL Supervisory Board.
Vladimir Malenkovic, who was appointed chairman of the PL Supervisory Board at today's session, said that the Supervisory Board was informed about the latest developments and that two options were still on the table - the still valid bid by the Croatian concern Agrokor to buy the PL's shares in Mercator for EUR 221 per share and the initiative for the PL to join a consortium including Slovenian banks - co-owners of Mercator, to which a majority interest in Mercator would be sold.
We have entrusted the PL management with continuing with the activities, said Malenkovic.
PL director Dusan Zorko said Agrokor had extended the validity of its offer, but that Agrokor's bid was not discussed at today's meeting, nor was a decision made on joining the bank consortium for the sale of a majority stake in Mercator in a new tender, as suggested by Mercator's management.
The Slovenian market competition office decided on Tuesday, just before the PL Supervisory Board was to hold a session on Agrokor's bid for the purchase of the PL's stake in Mercator, that the PL could not sell its stake without the office's consent, thus practically blocking the sale.
Meanwhile, the state fund KAD suggested the PL should hold a meeting of its shareholders' assembly to decide within a period of two months on the recapitalisation of the inverindebted brewery by issuing additional shares whose value would be equivalent to the value of 50 percent of the company's current equity.
KAD said that as a minority shareholder in the PL it was ready to take part in the brewery's recapitalisation, which would have to be supported by 75 percent of the PL's shareholders, and that the PL's difficult financial situation could not be solved by selling its interest in Mercator alone because the brewery would still be left with a very high debt and the cost of debt servicing, which was why the company needed an injection of fresh capital in the amount of EUR 18 million.
Commenting on claims in the Croatian media that the Slovenian regulator was blocking the PL's deal with Agrokor, Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor said on Thursday there were no political pressures on the office for market competition and that the office made its decision on its own.
Every investor, regardless of their nationality, is welcome in Slovenia, but on condition that their investments are not aimed at hostile takeovers, said Pahor.
