Slovenian retailer Mercator has appointed Toni Balažic as CEO, replacing Ziga Debeljak, who resigned in March amid disagreement with the owners of the company.

Balažic will start his role on 1 June for a five-year term. The announcement comes after the board’s fifth meeting held today (18 May). Debeljak will remain an advisor to the president of the management board until 30 September.

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In March, Debeljak and the rest of Mercator’s management board, which has operations across the Balkans, resigned.

The board and the owners of Mercator fell out over plans, which eventually came to nothing, to sell the the retailer to Croatian retailer Agrokor. Mercator’s management opposed plans to sell the business to Agrokor. In November, they cited concerns over the involvement of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC). Agrokor dropped its bid in February.

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