February 6 (SeeNews) - Billionaire investor George Soros has withdrawn from the purchase of Slovenia's ailing retailer Tus via his fund Quantum Strategic Partners because of the continued role of owner Mirko Tus in the company, local media reported on Tuesday.
A consortium of banks led by state-owned NLB initiated the sale of 300 million euro ($372.5 million) in claims held against Tus in 2016.
You can subscribe to our M&A newsletter here
The sale process is now ending without a buyer as none of the shortlisted bidders has satisfied the requirements of the banks, Slovenian broadcaster RTVSLO reported.
Tus is expected to start negotiations on a new debt restructuring scheme, which could see it paying lower interest rates on loans.
In October last year, local media reported that the consortium of banks had received 15 non-binding bids for Tus. Among them, English private equity fund AnaCap Financial Partners made the only serious proposal for the retailer, but the price it offered was considered to be too low.
Quantum Strategic Partners is a private investment vehicle that focuses globally on long-term investments in several strategies, including capital-intensive start-ups, project development and growth equity transactions.
($=0.805370 euro)