Merkur bankruptcy administrator Simona Goriup expects the sale contract to be ready by the end of the month and then submitted to the Kranj District Court, which is in charge of the insolvency procedure. The court will have the final say in the deal.

The business paper Finance has reported that, unofficially, the US fund is willing to pay EUR 28m for the hardware retailer.

Established in 2007, HPS Investment Partners manages around US$ 39bn in assets, according to the website of the company formerly known as Highbridge Principal Strategies.

Goriup already tried to sell Merkur trgovina in January, but no bids were submitted to the call with the EUR 28.55m starting price.

This call was answered by four bidders, including Czech-Turkish fund Odien. According to media reports, both funds are interested in acquiring Merkur shops, which are being sold by Heta, the bad bank of the former Hypo bank.