Mercator to Get New Supervisory Board
New supervisors will be appointed after the board headed by economics professor Matej Lahovnik stepped down at the beginning of this month after Agrokor published a bid to take over the remaining Mercator shares following the acquisition of a 53% stake in June.
Lahovnik has been proposed for reappointment to the board by the new owner along with Agrokor managers Damir Kuštrak, Ante Todorić and Ivan Crnjac, Darko Knez from Agrokor's subsidiary Konzum and businessman Ivica Mudrinić from the Croatian Employers' Association.
Agrokor paid just over EUR 172m for a 53.12% stake in Mercator held by a consortium headed by brewer Pivovarna Laško in a deal closed on 27 June. It then went on to publish a takeover bid offering EUR 86 per share, which values the outstanding stake at EUR 152m.
Under a debt restructuring deal with creditor banks, the Croatian food group also secured Mercator a subordinate loan of EUR 220m for recapitalisation and working capital.
Mercator generated EUR 1.3bn in half-year sales revenue, a 4% drop compared to the same period a year ago, with operating profit at EUR 11.8m, up 4%.