The proceeds were deposited into the accounts of the nine sellers of the 53% stake on Friday, after Agrokor set up a special account to finance the EUR 172m payment on Thursday, the Croatian group confirmed in a press release.

The biggest seller, beverage group Pivovarna Laško, which owns 23.3% of Mercator, was due to receive EUR 76m, while state-owned banks NLB and NKBM were due EUR 35m and EUR 16m each.

The other sellers are Gorenjska banka, Prvi faktor - Faktoring, Banka Koper, Hypo Alpe-Adria Bank, NFD investment firm, Banka Celje and NFD holding.

The value of the entire takeover is EUR 544m, of which EUR 324m are earmarked for the acquisition of the full stake in Mercator, EUR 200m will be used to pay down loans of the Slovenian grocer and EUR 20m for operating capital.

Agrokor said today that before finalising the deal a contract was also signed with creditor banks on the restructuring of EUR 1bn worth of Mercator debt.

The Croatian food group will now have to publish a takeover offer for the remaining shares of Slovenia's top grocer.

Under Slovenian law, it must first publish an intent for the acquisition of the outstanding shares within three days, whereupon it must publish the offer in a period of 10-30 days.

The closure of the takeover marks the end of more than five years of efforts by Laško to offload its stake as part of restructuring efforts.

It also marks more than three years of attempts by Agrokor to conclude the takeover, which will make it the biggest retailer in SE Europe.

Mercator's new owner wrote today that the two companies "will generate almost EUR 7bn in joint annual revenue and employ 64,000 people".

"This way the leading retailer and food production company in the entire region and beyond will be created," Agrokor said.

Agrokor boss Ivica Todorić is convinced that the joint company will also enable Slovenian suppliers to expand sales and enter new markets.

He feels a higher level of employment will be secured and major opportunities created to further improve the suppliers' structure in the region and for growth of the food and other industries.

Meanwhile, the opposition Democrats (SDS) said in a press release that the sale could have been closed at an almost triple price (EUR 221 per share) in 2011, if only the then PM Borut Pahor and Agriculture Minister Dejan Židan would have acted responsibly.

The party was also critical of outgoing PM Alenka Bratušek, Foreign Minister Karl Erjavec and Agriculture Minister Dejan Židan, whose pretending ignorance in opposing the sale now they find "distasteful, since they are responsible for the sale".

At the same time the SDS pointed out that the sale would be closed at an even lower value in three years's time as they are certain that Mercator's low price at the moment is the consequence of bad management, which would only carry on considering the current political block in power.