Slovenian competition watchdog rejects Engrotus takeover by Mercator - report

The European Commission will have to assess Mercator's acquisition of Engrotus, as the concentration has EU dimensions, public broadcaster RTV quoted the director of the competition watchdog, Andrej Matvoz, as saying.

EC assesses acquisition deals if the participating companies' total turnover on the EU market exceeds 250 million euro and each of them generates more than two a third of their revenue in the same member state, which is the case of Mercator and Engrotus, RTV said.

Mercator signed a deal for the acquisition of Engrotus in October, Mercator owner Fortenova said back then.

According to Slovenian media, the transaction is worth 30 million euro ($32.5 million) and if completed, Mercator and Fortenova will control some 35% of Slovenia's retail market among themselves.

($ = 0.9219 euro)