Mercator could be on the verge of a takeover by Croatian retail rival Agrokor, according to reports in the country.
Zoran Jankovic, the Mayor of Ljubljana and a former chairman at Mercator, told the Daily finance that a deal to sell Slovenia's largest food retailer had 'already been decided', Planet Retail reported.
Agrokor offered €221 per share for the group, the highest of four bidders, with representatives from both sides meeting this week, along with Agrokor's consultant JP Morgan.
However, the country's agriculture minister Dejan Zidan said that the Slovenian government would attempt to block the takeover bid with 'all the means within its authority'.