Ljubljana/Zagreb - Croatia's Fortenova Group increased its share in Slovenian retail group Mercator from 88.1% to 89.11% during a takeover bid for the remaining 724,764 Mercator shares Fortenova does not already own. A total of 154 Mercator shareholders accepted Fortenova's offer of EUR 36 per share in cash.

Fortenova described the takeover bid as successful in a release published in the newspaper Delo on Saturday. Given that its Mercator share already exceeds 50% of all shares with voting rights, the Zagreb-based group had not stated a threshold for the takeover bid to succeed when publishing it on 26 May.

At the end of April, Fortenova became a majority shareholder in Mercator after the Slovenian company was transferred from its bankrupt Croatian predecessor Agrokor.

Getting another four-year term at the helm of Mercator, chairman Tomislav Čizmić recently said that Fortenova and Mercator will begin a new investment cycle that will make sure Mercator's development continues.

Mercator posted a net loss of EUR 156.7 million last year mainly due to revaluation of property, however the company saw 2020 revenue rose by 1.6% to EUR 2.2 billion.