Retail market begins to consolidate in ex-Yugoslavia

Global Retail Bulletin by Planet Retail,
1 December 2006  

Ten months after talks of a merger between Mercator, Konzum and Delta Holding were rejected, Serbian Delta Holding and Croatian Agrokor (the owner of Konzum), both retail conglomerates in their home countries, announced that they have started a process to merge their divisions. The merger process would take at least a year and could be completed in two years. A successful completion of the merger will be followed by an initial public offering of the new company in London. Meanwhile, Slovenian retailer Mercator has acquired Rodic, the second largest retailer in Serbia. These developments highlight the fact that M&A activity is growing in the region and that the retail market is expected to become much more concentrated in the medium to long-term - a phenomenon one would expect in an economically emerging region such as ex-Yugoslavia, where consumers have become visibly wealthier over the past few years.

Full article at www.planeteretail.net