All segments not a part of the core business have been removed from the Mercator brand
Agrokor is closing the sales of individual business segments with Intersport and Modiana from the Mercator group, tagged as not fitting with long term strategy right after taking over the company in 2014. For the same reason, Pekarna Grosuplje, Mercator Embi and M-Holidays were removed for the same reason from the portfolio last year, Poslovni Dnevnik reported on July 1, 2016.
Slovenian media reported on these changes yesterday, while the Agrokor concern headed by Ivica Todorić was not ready for comments on these business moves. Slovenian entrepreneur Goran Kristan is said to be the new owner of Modiana brand, while Intersport is being taken over by the Polish private equity fund Enterprise Investors. Modiana is present in Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia&Herzgevina and Serbia, with 130 stores and 685 employees.
Future owner Kristan is already in sales of garments, representing the Tom Tailor brand in Slovenia and south-eastern Europe markets. Kristan’s partner in the takeover of Modiana, Slovenian media state, is reportedly an Indian textile producer so the domestic markets expect this will influence a change of assortment regarding the current representation of higher-end brands.
Intersport has 93 own stores and 17 franchises in the region. Last year the company started doing business in Kosovo, but Slovenians estimate the new owner might invest more in developing business in Croatian and Serbian markets due to more consumers. Mercator presented the operation of Modiana and Intersport only through consolidated annual reports so unofficially Modiana made losses while Intersport was the pride of the group.
