Slovenia body blocks sale of Mercator stake

Slovenia's Competition Protection Office blocked the planned sale of 23 percent of Slovenia's top food retailer Mercator.

 In June
Infond Holding agreed to sell 23 percent of Mercator to Austrian
Raishop Holding, a subsidiary of Raiffeisen Investment, for an
indicative price of 260 million euros ($409.4 million), providing
that the sale was approved by the Slovenian competition watchdog.

"The
proposal of the company Infond Holding … for the sale of 866,033
shares of Mercator to the company Raishop Holding … has been turned
down," Infond said in a statement.

Infond had
said it decided to sell most of its stake in Mercator after the
competition watchdog in February started procedure against Infond and
four other companies amid suspicion that they are coordinationg their
actions in Mercator in which they together own majority of shares.

Infond owns
25 percent of Mercator while other four companies that are undergoing
the watchdog's procedure together own some 35 percent of Mercator.

Infond said
the watchdog blocked the sale because the sales contract did not
prove that Infond was actually "exiting from the capital
participation in Mercator".

According to
the local media the sales contract gave Infond a right to buy back
Mercator's shares from Raishop Holding within 10 months.

Infond said
it would aim to reach a new contract with Raishop Holding in order to
get the watchdog's approval.