Spar and Netto sold to Edeka
Alliance creates European grocery giant
French retail group ITM Enterprises is selling badged wholesaler Spar and the discount supermarket chain Netto to German rival Edeka.
At the same time, ITM, Edeka and Spanish distributor Eroski are forming an alliance to create Europe’s biggest food distribution group.
Edeka announced that it was acquiring the Spar-Handels business and Netto for an undisclosed sum.
The deal sees ITM Entreprises exit the German market which it entered in 1997 with the acquisition of Spar. ITM has invested around €1bn in Spar, but the business has remained unprofitable in the face of strong competition from discounters such as Aldi and Lidl and a generally sluggish German retail market. Spar made a net loss of €47m last year.
Announcing the acquisition, Edeka said that ITM, Edeka and Eroski were “joining forces to create Europe’s biggest food distribution group,” but has not given further details.
Edeka is an alliance of retail and wholesale groups, including Co-ops, which takes in more than 5,000 retail outlets. ITM supplies more than 3000 stores, mainly in France, operating the Intermarche and Euromarche supermarket fascias. Eroski of Spain is a buying group and supermarket operator with retail chains including Eroski, Maxi and Consum.
