The sale was approved on Friday, but neither the bad bank nor Avtotehna have so far revealed the details.

The media have speculated that potential buyers are Germany's Bosch, French multinational Saint-Gobain, Indian company Murugappa, Austria's Tyrolit and Turkey's Eczacibasi Holding.

According to the daily Dnevnik, the most serious candidates are Saint-Gobain and Tyrolit, with which SwatyComet already cooperates.

SwatyComet was established in 2010 with the merger of abrasives makers Swaty and Comet, three years after both became members of the hardware-through-IT group Avtotehna.

It has production plants in Maribor, Zreče and Loče and exports 95% of its products to around 80 countries around the world.

The company posted a net profit of EUR 3.5m for last year, double that of a year earlier. Sales amounted to EUR 81m, which is 6% more year-on-year.

Avtotehna's financial woes had forced the owner to think about selling SwatyComet, but it later ended in the hands of the bad bank as part of the court-mandated debt restructuring proceedings.