Carrefour to buy Ahold’s Polish hypermarkets
Deal for 13 sites in major cities
Ahold has agreed to sell its 13 large hypermarkets in Poland to Carrefour.
The deal continues the disposal on non-core businesses by Netherlands-based Ahold, while allowing Carrefour to continue its expansion outside the sluggish France market.
The value of the deal has not been revealed. The hypermarkets currently trade under the Hypernova brand, also used by Ahold for its ‘compact hyper’ superstore format in Poland, and are located in major Polish cities. The deal will need anti-trust approval and is expected to complete in the first quarter of 2005.
Anders Moberg, Ahold president & CEO, said: “In Poland, we have decided to fully focus on the further development of the supermarket and compact hyper formats.
“Moreover, the divestment of all the larger hypermarkets contributes to the reduction of our debt. Our 170 Albert supermarkets and 12 Hypernova compact hypers are popular shopping destinations for 2.5m loyal customers every week. We are committed to continuing to provide them with the products and services they demand and deserve.”
Carrefour already operates 16 hypermarkets in Poland, opening the most recent, under the Arcadia brand, in Warsaw last month.
