The sale of Celjske Mesnine, Slovenia's largest red meat processing company, to a Croatian company has fallen through for the time being as courts imposed restrictions on the stakes subject to the transaction, according to the news portal Necenzurirano.

In early July, the Klagenfurt registry court banned the majority owner and CEO of the company Izidor Krivec from disposing of his stake in the Austrian company CM Invest, through which he controls the Celje-based meat processing company, the portal reported on 8 August.

This, along with a previous restriction on Krivec's stake in Celjske Mesnine, will for now prevent the Croatian group Braća Pivac from obtaining a majority stake in Celjske Mesnine, where the Croatian group currently owns 40%.

Krivec and his business partner Danilo Dujović decided to sell the majority stake in Celjske Mesnine to Braća Pivac in spring because of a dispute between them. The contract was signed in May for the deal to be carried out in two steps.

First Braća Pivac had to buy a 40% stake in CM Invest from Dujović. When they were supposed to obtain the majority stake from Krivec, a restriction was imposed on a 60% stake in Celjske Mesnine at the proposal of the Specialised State Prosecutor's Office, which is investigating Dujović.

Dujović allegedly helped Engrotuš founder and long-time director Mirko Tuš in defrauding the Engrotuš retail chain of €30 million. Dujović is suspected of having aided and abetted in abuse of office or trust in economic activity.

The Austrian court's move was done at the request of the Slovenian authorities, namely the Celje District Court. Right after the authorities prevented the sale to take place, Krivec and Dujović started getting rid of assets that could also become the subject of restrictions, the portal reports.

The announced sale of Celjske Mesnine raised concerns in Slovenia as did the sale of a majority stake in Slovenia's leading agri-food company, Panvita, to Croatian company Mplus.