The German competition watchdog has approved the acquisition of a total of 116 Real stores by Kaufland and Globus. Edeka also wanted to acquire a number of stores, but this decision was postponed.
Investigation completed
On Tuesday, the German competition authorities have authorised Kaufland to acquire 92 Real subsidiaries. Globus is allowed to buy 24 Real branches from investment company SCP. This is reported by Business Insider.
Kaufland originally applied for the acquisition of 101 stores. In the end, at the request of the authorities, it abandoned nine sites (Bedburg, Heidenau, Hemer, Heidenheim, Brandenburg, Neubrandenburg, Horb, Dülmen and Falkensee), otherwise competition in the regional markets concerned would be too seriously affected. Kaufland will integrate the stores in the coming months.
According to the competition watchdog, the acquisition of Real sites by Globus does not pose any problem from the point of view of consumers in the regions concerned. President Andreas Mundt said that the conditions imposed by the competition authorities will significantly strengthen German small and medium-sized food retailers.
Edeka has to wait
In addition to Kaufland and Globus, Edeka had applied to take over a maximum of 72 Real stores, but this procedure is still ongoing. The deadline for a decision has been extended to 22 February next year.
At the beginning of this year, after a long search, Metro sold its super and hypermarket chain to SCP, a Luxembourg group with mainly Russian investors. SCP never made a secret of the fact that it wanted to sell the chain again immediately.
