Aldi Nord and Süd will not merge, but collaborate

Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd confirm they will look into the possibilities of working together closely in regards to its German purchase and marketing division. Both companies however deny a future merger.

Advantage of scale

“We are not considering nor planning a merger”, both discounters told Belgian newspaper De Tijd in a reaction to the rumours spread by German Manager Magazin. However, that does not mean both companies have not come together somewhat: Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd will investigate whether they can collaborate on a marketing and purchase level, specifically in Germany. The main reasons are probably that it can lower costs and take full advantage of its scale this way. It would be an important first step towards the reunion of a company that split in 1961.

Germany is the only country where both divisions are active, a deal made when brothers Theo and Karl Albrecht split the company in two in 1961. They stay clear of one another in other countries: Aldi Nord is active in Belgium, the Netherlands and the rest of Western Europe and Aldi Süd calls the shots in Middle and Eastern Europe, Great Britain and the United States.