The Slovenia Times

Agrokor Lowers Mercator Offer to EUR 105 per Share

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The Croatian group is expected to present the amended offer to the consortium of sellers of Mercator in Vienna on Friday, RTVS said, although this piece of information was labelled as inaccurate for STA by Agrokor.

As part of the lowered price, Agrokor would also secure a capital injection for the Slovenian grocer, the public broadcaster said.

The amended offer would value the 53% stake in Mercator Mercator at EUR 220m, which is EUR 30m less than under the contract signed by Agrokor with the sellers of Mercator in June.

Sources close to Agrokor have meanwhile told Radio Slovenija that the meeting between Agrokor and the sellers was initially scheduled to go ahead on Thursday but was postponed to Friday due to logistical issues.

The Croatian group is expected to use the meeting to present one of the financial institutions that would provide financing for the deal, the radio station reported. According to the report, the same institution could also finance the capital injection at Mercator, whose final value has not been agreed on.

The meeting has been labelled as crucial by sources, as the success of Agrokor's takeover of Mercator could well hinge on the outcome.

Radio Slovenija says that Agrokor is confident that the sellers, which include beverage group Pivovarna Laško and a number of banks, would be willing to accept the amended offer.

The Croatian group needs to convince 75% of the members of the consortium of sellers to see the amended offer succeed.

Two of the biggest single shareholders, Laško and the NLB bank, will have to seek approval from their supervisory boards for the new offer before taking a decision.

RTVS cited unofficial information in reporting that Pivovarna Laško, which is selling around 23% of Mercator, is not prepared to accept a lower price.

However, the banks are reportedly putting pressure on Laško, which has agreed to reduce its debt stemming from a failed management buyout, to accept the offer.

The public broadcaster reports that the state will likely have a key say on the amended offer, having recently become the single-biggest shareholder in Mercator through the state-controlled banks, including the Bank Asset Management Company.

The prime minister's office highlighted for RTVS that PM Alenka Bratušek was not involved in the sale of Mercator. However, the office made a point of saying that agreements need to be respected and that changing the rule of the game midstream was not a recipe for success.

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