September 22 (SeeNews) - The European Commission (EC) said it approved unconditionally the proposed acquisition of Slovenian retailer Mercator [LJE:MELR] by Croatia's Fortenova Group, successor to the collapsed food-to-retail concern Agrokor.
The transaction will not harm competition in the European Economic Area, considering that both Fortenova and Mercator are active in the supply of daily consumer goods, with the former currently active in Croatia and Slovenia, and the latter primarily located in Slovenia, with a significant presence at retail level where Fortenova is not active, the EC said in a statement on Monday.
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"The transaction forms part of the broader restructuring of Fortenova's predecessor Agrokor. In essence, it reintegrates Mercator into the same corporate group to which it belonged from 2014, when Agrokor acquired control over Mercator, up until April 2019, when all other Agrokor assets but for Mercator were transferred to Fortenova," the Commission said.
The EC noted it has concluded that the acquisition is in line with the EU merger regulation following a market investigation carried out among a broad range of local and international competitors, suppliers and customers of Fortenova and Mercator, including producers of daily consumer goods, wholesale suppliers and retailers.
The investigation has revealed that the combined market share of both companies is very low to moderate, while a number of competitors offer effective alternatives to the products and services of Fortenova and Mercator. In addition, the majority of consulted competitors were either supportive of the transaction or not concerned by it.
Fortenova is present across the food value chain from farming, to food production and to wholesale and retail supply.
Mercator, mainly active in the supply of daily consumer goods to end consumers, has a network of 1,051 retail stores located throughout Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro.
Fortenova has said it expects Mercator's shares to be transferred into its ownership by the end of 2020.
The business operations of Agrokor were transferred to the newly formed Fortenova Group in April 2019 under a settlement agreement with Agrokor's creditors endorsed by a Zagreb court in June 2018.
Agrokor, which employs some 60,000 people in the region, has been undergoing restructuring led by a court-appointed crisis manager under Croatia's special law on companies of systemic importance passed in April 2017 with the aim of shielding the country's economy from big corporate bankruptcies.
Poslovni Sistem Mercator d.d. is among the biggest companies in SEE. You can download our SEE Top 100 ranking
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