UAE company acquires fourth-largest fuel retailer in Slovenia

Sunqar Resources from the United Arab Emirates has become a new player on the Slovenian fuel retail market by acquiring Maxen self-service filling stations from grocer Mercator.

Mercator, part of the Croatian Fortenova Group, finalised the transaction on 5 January by handing over M Energija, the subsidiary managing the Maxen self-service stations, to the new owner, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.

Mercator did not reveal the value of the deal or other details, except for saying in a written statement that the sale was in accordance with the group's strategy to focus on the core business.

It said M Energija had accounted for less than 1% of Mercator's total sales.

There are currently 21 Maxen fully-automated self-service filling stations operating in the country. These are now fully owned by Sunqar Resources.

According to information on its website, Sunqar Resources FZ-LLC is engaged in the wholesale trading of petroleum products, including liquefied petroleum gas (LNG) and coal.

It serves filling stations and LPG station networks in Eastern Europe, the Baltic States, and Central Asia, operating through partnerships with the owners of marine terminals in the Azov-Black Sea basin.

M Energija incurred a net loss of €710,000 on €13 million in total revenue in 2024, the last year for which data is available. While revenue rose by 3% from the year before, the loss increased from €588,000 in 2023.

According to information published in September 2025 by the Forbes Slovenija news portal, M Energija is the fourth largest fuel retailer in Slovenia with a 4% market share, after local Petrol (60%), Hungary's MOL (25%) and Britain's Shell Adria (8.9%).

The latter had acquired several service stations that MOLhad to offload in 2023 to get clearance for the takeover of OMV Slovenija.

Photo courtesy of Maxen