Ljubljana, Nov 30 - Slovenia's leading food retailer Mercator said on Friday it would establish a joint venture with Montenegrin retailer Mex.
The two retailers will form a new company, Mercator-Mex, which will operate 10 Mex shopping centres and retail stores in Montenegro.
"With this strategic tie up, Mercator entered its fourth market outside Slovenia. This is part of our vision to become the leading food retailer in the region of southeastern Europe," Mercator said.
It said the new company is expected to have sales of at least 25 million euros ($36.87 million) in 2008 and will be among the top Montenegrin food retailers according to market share.
Mercator has units in Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia and hopes to extend to other markets in the region in the coming years.
Mercator shares eased 1.12 percent to 310 euros on Friday while the blue-chip SBI index lost 0.32 percent.