Agrokor signed a contract on Friday with the consortium of Mercator owners, which comprises banks, funds and the Pivovarna Lasko brewery, buying their stock at EUR 120 per share. The transaction is to be completed by the end of the year after being approved by regulators in a number of states where Mercator and Agrokor have retail chains. The deal also depends on the rollover of Mercator's EUR 1.1 billion debt to Slovenian and European banks.
The latest polls show that Mercator's sale to Agrokor is very unpopular among Slovenians.
Speaking to the press, Bratusek said that unlike previous governments, hers did not interfere in the sale and that the Slovenian retail chain was practically "sold" by the Jansa cabinet in 2005 by approving the sale of two big stakes.
The media claim that Bratusek's government informally approved the decision of two state-owned banks, Nova Ljubljanska Banka and Nova Kreditna Banka Maribor, to sell their stakes in Mercator and that this was a sign to other shareholders to follow suit.
The PM, however, said the decision to sell the Mercator shares was made independently by the supervisory bodies and shareholders. She said that in 2005 the interest in the chain was sold at the government's intervention and without a public tender.
Bratusek went on to say that those who maintained that Agrokor was not the right buyer for Mercator and that the government should prevent the sale should be told that in such a case the government would have to secure EUR 500 million to inject in Mercator at high interest rates and that taxpayers would never get this money back. She said this money would have to be secured by raising taxes and slashing some social rights and not through borrowing.
Bratusek voiced confidence that Agrokor would honour the terms negotiated with Mercator's owners regarding Slovenian suppliers and workers.