Ahold sells Spanish business to Permira
Private equity player in €686m deal
Ahold is selling its Spanish retail operations to private equity firm Permira.
The €685m deal, which will need regulatory approval, is expected to complete before the end of the year and will see Permira acquire almost 600 supermarkets, including the Supersol chain, on the Spanish mainland and in the Canary Islands. The business had net sales of around €2bn last year.
Ahold president & CEO Anders Moberg said:”This divestment is part of our ‘Road to Recovery’ strategy to optimise our portfolio and to strengthen our financial position. It represents an important milestone in our divestment program and demonstrates our continued focus on improving the balance sheet by reducing net debt.
“We announced in November 2003 that we intended to withdraw from the Spanish market. We initiated a careful process in order to generate maximum value for our Spanish retail operations. We also committed to handling the divestment in a way which would provide the best possible outcome for our 14,000 Spanish associates. We are pleased to have reached agreement with the Permira Funds.”
In the UK, Permira has been linked in recent weeks to a potential bid for Sainsbury’s, and is also said to be among those interested in acquiring fashion chain Hobbs.
It backed the purchase of DIY chain Homebase from Sainsbury’s, with the business later sold to GUS, as well as the MBO of New Look, Less successfully, Permira was pipped to the post in the auction for Debenhams last year, and dropped plans for a bid for WH Smith in July.
Ahold is selling non-core operations as it works to recover from the financial problems which hit the business last year.
