ZAGREB (Reuters) – Meals firm Fortenova took again management of Slovenia’s largest retail chain Mercator after shareholders authorised the deal, together with a share swap, which will increase the corporate’s stake Russian Sberbank, the most important shareholder of the Croatian group.

The transaction is a remaining step in a bigger restructuring of Fortenova’s predecessor, Agrokor, which was saved from chapter in 2017 because of an settlement with worldwide collectors.

In April 2019, all of Agrokor’s different property, besides Mercator, had been transferred to Fortenova.

The Slovenian Competitors Safety Company seized Agrokor’s Mercator shares following a contested fantastic imposed on Agrokor for allegedly failing to report a revised market focus in time after the acquisition of a small producer bottled water.

Final yr, Slovenia’s Supreme Court docket ordered that Mercator’s shares be returned to Agrokor, and European Union antitrust regulators authorised Fortenova’s reinstatement of Mercator.

Agrokor acquired management of Mercator in 2014, however after April 2019 all different Agrokor property besides Mercator had been transferred to Fortenova.

Following the approval of the share swap, Sberbank’s 18.5% stake in Mercator can be transferred to Fortenova. Sberbank’s stake in Fortenova will improve from 39% to 44%, Fortenova stated in a press release on Friday.

As well as, Fortenova shareholders, which embody banks and funding funds, authorised a mortgage from Fortenova to Mercator value as much as 390 million euros ($ 465.04 million) to refinance the debt. financial institution of Mercator.

(1 USD = 0.8386 euros)