MERCATOR not to be bought back by Slovenia

According to a statement by Slovenia’s prospective economy minister, Matej Lahovnik, the government is unlikely to buy a stake in Mercator, the country's largest food retailer whose shareholders will put a majority stake on sale.

 "I see no reason for Slovenia to
buy Mercator back at a higher price than it was sold three years
ago," Lahovnik told reporters on the sidelines of an economic
conference. Several large shareholders have announced plans to sell a
total of some 65.5% of Mercator in offers in the next few months.
Mercator is Slovenia's fifth largest listed firm with market
capitalisation of EUR741 million. Mercator employees' trade union
last week called on the government to intervene and prevent possible
job cuts. The management said it would prefer if Mercator remained
independent instead of being taken over by a large international
rival. Serbia's Delta Holding said last week it would be interested
in buying a share of Mercator. Local media reports have said
Britain's Tesco, France's Carrefour and Croatia's Agrokor might also
be interested, while Germany's Rewe told Reuters last week it was not
looking into buying Mercator.