Analysts thought that Polish supermarket chain Eko Holding would almost certainly end up in private equity firm Mid Europa's portfolio on Wednesday, but they turned out to be wrong.

Even though Mid Europa's offer for zł.5.5 a share is much higher than that of its competitor, Advent International (which offered zł.4.1 per share), Eko Holding's majority shareholders did not even want to discuss the offer, Parkiet reported.

The Financial Supervision Authority is now investigating this.

Rumor has it that Eko's largest shareholder and president of the board – Krzysztof Gradecki, is favoring Advent because the fund is ready to pay him a significant premium for a controlling stake in the company.

Poland A.M.