Ljubljana - Dnevnik reports on Tuesday that after the Slovenian retailer Mercator had been transformed from a joint stock company into a limited liability company at the beginning of the month, the procedure has been launched in the region to merge certain business functions of Mercator and the Croatian retail chain of Konzum.

This comes after Mercator was transferred last April to the Fortenova group, which manages the healthy core of the bankrupt Croatian conglomerate of Agrokor, which acquired the Slovenian retailer in 2014.

"After the transfer of Mercator to Fortenova, various business functions are being coordinated with the aim of greater business efficiency, for example, in procurement, as this ensures greater synergy effects of the merged business systems," Mercator was quoted by Dnevnik.

According to unofficial information obtained by the newspaper, some other business functions will also be merged, first in Bosnia-Herzegovina, as Mercator said that it had been assessed that this would increase efficiency and reduce costs.

"The Mercator brand in Bosnia-Herzegovina certainly stays, which also applies to other markets, as it remains a leading brand not only in Slovenia, but also in the region," the retailer added.

Since 2014, Mercator malls in Bosnia-Herzegovina have been managed by Konzum, the largest retail chain in Croatia, and Dnevnik says that the name change alone has caused a significant decrease in turnover, especially in Republika Srpska.

The newspaper quotes an unnamed pundit who says there is a possibility that Mercator, even if it keeps the shops in Bosnia, will no longer manage them, as they will be managed from Croatia. The same is said to apply to the Serbian market.

The Croatian group Fortenova, as the only shareholder of Mercator, decided to transform the Slovenian retailer into a limited liability company at an AGM in June. Under the new articles of association, Mercator can have one to five directors.

With the entry of the transformation in the business register at the beginning of July, the term of the management board consisting of Tomislav Čizmić, Drago Cukjati and Igor Mamuza has expired, as has the term of the supervisory board.