Mercator acquires Jabuka and Familija?

Slovenia's Mercator is interested in expanding its retail network in Serbia and it is already negotiating the sale of Familija market chain. Since recently, the company from Slovenia also eyes the trade company Jabuka.

According to unofficial information available to Danas daily, Mercator is interested in 12 large stores currently occupied by SOS markets, while 19 smaller facilities will continue to operate as before because the time for their closing has not come yet. However, there is no guarantee that SOS markets that continue to operate will keep offering products at the same affordable prices as they do now or that their suppliers will remain the same.

- We will not be able to place orders for the same quantities of goods so we do not know if manufacturers will be selling their goods under the same terms as now - Milena Radulovic, marketing director at SOS Trgovina, told Danas.

It was announced on Friday that Slovenia's Mercator and Croatia's Agrokor, owned by Ivica Todoric, would start negotiating the merger of their retail divisions. What we do not know at the moment is whether that merger will include Todoric's Idea markets in Serbia because both trade companies may feel endangered after the acquisition of Delta Maxi market chain by the Belgian Delhaize.

However, the Serbian companies that Mercator has chosen to negotiate with speaks in the favor of the assumption that the leading Croatian and Serbian markets will be merged in Serbia as well. Namely, the concept of sale - several large hypermarkets and a network of smaller outlets covering the market, affordable prices and weekend discounts - is similar to the concept applied by Todoric's Konzum in Croatia.

In case all levels of takeover and merger are covered by the deal, the final result would be that both market chains - Rodic and Mercator on one side and Idea on the other side, may pose a significant competitor to Maxi market chain, which promotes a similar concept of trade.