Fashion
Sports Direct owner Mike Ashley has bought British department store chain House of Fraser, just hours after the 169 year old chain filed for bankruptcy. 6000 jobs under threat Ashley has acquired all of House of Fraser's British
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General
French Decathlon has acquired Swiss sports store chain Athleticum from Maus Frères, who in return receive a minority stake in Decathlon Switzerland and an undisclosed fee. Number three in Switzerland So far, Decathlon had only one
Food
Brewery group Heineken has acquired a 40% stake in China Resources Beer Holdings, China’s largest brewer and owner of the world’s largest beer brand, Snow Beer. The deal gives the Dutch company better access to the huge Chinese
Belgian biscuit producer Lotus Bakeries has acquired British Kiddylicious, which produces snacks and meals for babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers. With this acquisition, the Belgian brand continues to build a more healthy image. 47
Belgian investment fund Core Equity will not take over the Dutch Hema group after all, as an agreement with franchisers about e-commerce could not be reached. Major online plans A month ago, Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf wrote that
Qatar’s royal family acquired most of founder Jean Galler’s shares in his own chocolate company. In the long run, it will obtain all shares. New CEO Qatar acquired a stake in 2006, but that was below the 50 % threshold,
Investor 3i wants to keep a hold of Action after all. Even though the owner made it seem like it was looking for a buyer, 3i now denies it. Investment term ends in 2019 British investment group 3i owns 80 % of Dutch
Carrefour has not found a buyer for hundreds of its former Dia stores in France yet. That may force nearly 230 stores to shut down. Possible closures this summer Carrefour wanted to sell 273 former Dia sores in France, but has
Action’s owner, investment firm 3i, aims to sell a part of the discount store chain next year. The Brits would want to sell a 35 % stake in the firm. Largest part of 3i’s portfolio Investor 3i owns about 80 % of discount chain
Belgian Core Equity holding is allegedly close to acquiring Dutch chain HEMA: a verbal agreement is apparently in place, all that is required are the signatures. Interested party after all Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf revealed the
Despite Amazon’s attractive offer, Indian online retailer Flipkart has chosen for Walmart and (remarkably), Google owner Alphabet as the new owners of 75 % of Flipkart’s shares. The deal is said to be worth 15 billion
Electronics
The battle for dominance on the Indian e-commerce market seems to be stepping up a notch: Amazon may be looking to buy a majority stake in Flipkart, trying to better Walmart which already started negociations with the Indian online
Irish Smyths Toys has announced a deal with bankrupt toys giant Toys ‘R’ Us to take over all of its 93 stores in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Financial details about the deal were not disclosed. No job loss In a
Dutch optician chain Hans Anders’ turnover grew 6 % last year, to 203.7 million euro, but it also announced it would divest from the French market. 513 stores (for now) Hans Anders continues its growth, as its full-year
French fashion chain Naf Naf, part of the Vivarte group, has a new owner. A chinese group, led by fashion group La Chapelle, paid 52 million euro to acquire it. 474 points of sale Vivarte was Naf Naf’s owner for slightly more
Dutch department store chain Hema, on sale since September, is not attracting much attention, because interested parties feel it is overpriced. Previous attempts to sell the company have also failed. Two candidates to second
