ING sent inquiries to everyone who had expressed interest in Mercator in the past, including Croatia's Agrokor, which is expected to decide whether it will submit a bid today.

Unofficial information has it that bids for a 50.3% stake in Mercator, being sold by beverage group Pivovarna Lasko and a consortium of banks, have so far only been filed by financial firms, among them the Mid Europa, Warburg Pincus and TPG funds.

The only potential strategic investor is reportedly the Croatian food group Agrokor, whose grocery subsidiary Konzum is a direct rival of Mercator. While it has not submitted its bid yet, Agrokor has already asked for the market regulator's approval of the planned acquisition.

The executive vice-president for export markets at Agrokor, Damir Kustrak, assured reporters on the margins of the FDI Summit 2011 investment conference in Ljubljana on Friday that the company would decide on Monday whether to place a bid for Mercator.

Slovenian media have reported that Mercator is also being eyed by the French grocer Leclerc, which has two shopping centres in Slovenia.