A group of financial companies had been selling more than 60% in Slovenia's leading vegetable oil manufacturer for some time.

The transaction, whose value has not been disclosed, did not include the biggest single shareholder to this point, food company Eta Kamnik, which bought a 18.35% stake from the Bank Assets Management Company (BAMC) in 2017.

The stake had ended up at the bad bank following the collapse of the Church-controlled holding Zvon Dva.

The deal, announced on Wednesday on the webpage of the Ljubljana Stock Exchange, makes Gea part of the empire of Frelih, ranked 18th on last year's list of the wealthiest Slovenians according to the Manager magazine.

Plasta employed 130 people in 2016 and generated EUR 23m in revenue and EUR 4.5m in net profit. All of Frelih's companies generate a combined annual turnover of over EUR 100m.

Gea, which employs around 100 people, saw its net profit drop by 15% to EUR 150,000 last year, despite the sales revenue increasing by 5% to EUR 25.7m.