Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor has said that neither he nor his ministers had anything to do with the decision of the government's office for market competition blocking the sale of shares in the Mercator retail chain held by the Pivovarna Lasko (PL) brewery, or with decisions of other co-owners of Mercator, including leading domestic banks.
"It is no secret that I spoke with several ministers about Mercator, which is the biggest employer in Slovenia, important for the sale of Slovenian products, but we didn't interfere in decisions of the parties involved in the sale or purchase of the shares," Pahor told a news conference after a government session, when asked by domestic reporters to comment on claims in the Croatian press that he prevented the sale of one quarter of Mercator's equity to the Croatian concern Agrokor.
"The regulator has made its position clear, and the government did not exert any pressure whatsoever," Pahor said in a comment on the decision of the market competition office.
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 23.44 percent stake in Mercator, that the PL could not sell its stake without the office's consent, thus practically blocking the sale. The management of the overindebted brewery had expected to earn around EUR 200 million from the sale of its interest in Mercator, which would help it reach an agreement with banks on rescheduling its EUR 450 million debt.
The PL has filed a complaint with the Slovenian Supreme Court against the decision of the market competition office, but Slovenian analysts believe that there is little maneuvering space for reversing the decision considering that Agrokor's offer is valid until April 30 and that the state fund KAD has suggested that the PL hold a meeting of its shareholders' assembly. Instead of deciding on selling the PL's shares in Mercator and in the media companies Delo and Vecer, the shareholders' assembly would decide on recapitalising the company by issuing additional shares whose value would be equivalent to the value of 50 percent of the company's current equity. The recapitalisation would be carried out over a period of five years.
Pahor said that every investor, regardless of their nationality, was welcome in Slovenia, but on condition that their investments were not aimed at hostile takeovers.
