The owners of Slovenian market chain Merkur have confirmed at a meeting the plan for recapitalization of the company through conversion of the debt to suppliers into their ownership stakes in Merkur. In that way, the suppliers have been given one month to convert their claims into ownership stakes. In order for this recapitalization to be successful, it is necessary that minimum EUR 85 million worth of claims be turned into ownership stakes.
The new management of Merkur, which replaced the previous management led by Bine Kordez in mid-2010, expects that the new owners will have 60% of Merkur’s shares in their possession once the recapitalization process is finished. However, the company’s financial rehabilitation programme depends even more on the banks that should by the end of this month approve reprogramming of a EUR 300 million loan, for which guarantees have been issued. According to public data, Merkur Group’s total financial debt at the end of 2010 amounted to EUR 550 million, EUR 200 million of which are owed to suppliers, while the rest are banking loans.
Source Ekapija.com
