Mercator, the largest retailer in the Balkans, is in talks to buy two companies in Serbia.
The Slovenia-based company, which, at the end of March, had 137 stores in Serbia, said the potential deals could take its share of the country’s retail market to 10%.
Go deeper with GlobalData
“Negotiations on the takeover of two trading chains in Serbia are in progress, which will additionally strengthen the position of Mercator as the second-largest trading chain on the market with a market share of around 10%, which is Mercator’s goal in Serbia,” said Stanka Curovic, the senior vice president of Mercator’s operations in south-eastern Europe.
Based on data from the end of March, Mercator had 1,499 stores across seven markets in south-eastern Europe. Serbia is its third-largest market by store count, behind Slovenia and Croatia.
The retailer could soon see a change in its ownership structure, with shareholders representing 50.03% of the business yesterday (16 June) unveiling a deal to sell their combined stake.
