Bosnia's Tropic submits bid for purchase of Mercator BH retailer

"We have expressed our interest in purchasing the retail chain Mercator BH and have submitted our offer," Tropic said in response to a SeeNews inquiry.

The company noted that negotiations are still ongoing, hence it is unable to disclose any further details.

Mercator, a member of Croatia's ailing food-to-retail concern Agrokor, returned to the Bosnian market on October 26 last year, after a three-year absence.

In 2014, following the takeover of Mercator by Agrokor, Croatia's Konzum was put in charge of retail operations in Croatia and in Bosnia. Mercator's fast-moving consumer goods stores in Croatia and Bosnia were leased out at arm's length principle to Konzum.

The Slovenian retailer has said that the move led to a drop of revenue and had a direct negative impact on business efficiency of retail in Bosnia.

In a bid to offset the damage, Agrokor decided to reintroduce Mercator to Bosnia last year. Earlier this year, however, Slovenian media reported that Mercator's Bosnian unit could be put up for sale soon.