Bidders have until 31 October to submit indicative offers, followed by a second round of binding offers upon the completion of due diligence, according to the tender papers.

The combined majority stake is being sold by the SSH (12.26%), the state-owned Modra zavarovalnica (14.97%) and several private asset management firms and mutual FUNDS.

Žito is a major player in Slovenia and in Southeast Europe in the bakery, confectionery, milled products, frozen foods, sweets, pastry, pasta, spices, tea and rice segments. It is one of the 15 state-owned companies slated for privatisation.

The company posted flat revenue of EUR 53.7m for January-June, with net profit rising a tenth year-on-year to EUR 0.6m.

The company is quoted on the Ljubljana STOCK Exchange, where it closed at just shy of EUR 120 per SHARE on Monday, valuing the entire company at just over EUR 42m.

This year the share has more than doubled in value, largely due to expectations of impending privatisation.