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The German retail group Rewe is being given the green light for the acquisition of Lekkerland, which in Belgium also includes wholesaler Conway. This will create a new European superpower in the convenience sector.
No objections
Rewe had already announced the acquisition in May and in August the European Commission had already ruled that there were no objections. The German Cartel Office has now also formally authorised the transaction. “Rewe and Lekkerland only have a combined market share of less than 10% in the food wholesale sector,” says Andreas Mundt, the Chair of the Bundeskartellamt [German Federal Cartel Office].
Alongside Edeka and the Schwarz Gruppe (Lidl and Kaufland), Rewe is one of the three largest retailers in Germany; growth in that segment would only be 0.5%, however, after the acquisition of Lekkerland. However, the merger between the two companies will create a new European superpower, which will have an active presence in 22 countries. The strategic importance of this is significant: ‘on-the-go’ consumption is a very current trend and a growing segment in the food market.
In 2018, the Lekkerland Group realised a turnover of around three billion euros in Germany and five billion euros in Europe. Rewe, for its part, generated 37 billion euros in Germany and 52 billion euros in Europe in 2018. In Belgium, the group operates under the name Conway, and has headquarters in Temse, near Antwerp. It employs almost 400 people and it has a turnover of more than 1.5 billion euros. In the Netherlands, Lekkerland BV generates a turnover of almost 2.5 billion euros. The company is located in Son en Breugel, near Eindhoven.
