General
Two real estate investors take over the bankrupt US department store chain JCPenney. They hope to secure the future of their indoor shopping centres, but this reasoning meets with a certain amount of scepticism...
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Fashion
Luxury group LVMH has decided to cancel its acquisition of American jeweller Tiffany's, saying it follows a request by the French government. A tough legal battle is expected to follow.
Martijn Rozenboom has acquired five Dutch chains of the bankrupt FNG group. The Belgian stores, meanwhile, are still waiting for more news about their fate.
Food
Carrefour has acquired Spanish supermarket chain Supersol for 78 million euros. The 172 stores will be rebranded into the French group's existing store concepts Express, Market or Supeco.
The acquisition of Tiffany & Co by French luxury group LVMH is delayed by three months, for reasons that are not disclosed. LVMH will have to wait for 24 November to put Tiffany's diamond ring around its finger.
German shoe group Deichmann has acquired 43 of the over 100 stores of bankrupt shoe chain Brantano, saving 300 jobs in the process. The saved stores will join Deichmann's Dutch vanHaren brand, which quadruples its presence in Belgium.
Fashion retailer C&A is selling its Chinese branch to a local investor, who says the possibilities on the huge Chinese market are enormous.
Mixed feelings for the employees of the bankrupt FNG group. While three chains are saved by local competitor Claes Retail Group (CRG), things are looking bleak for the group's biggest chain, Brantano.
French fashion chain Camaïeu has found a new owner to save the company: real estate group FIB from Bordeaux. However, the stores in Belgium, Luxembourg and Switzerland are not part of the deal.
The planned merger between GrandVision and EssilorLuxottica is all but dead, as the former now agrees that the deal should be stopped... provided the French-Italian company pays a 400 million euro fee, sparking just another battle in the eyewear war.
King Jouet has acquired 117 stores of its competitor Maxi Toys through its owner, the Gueydon family. The French toy store chain adds twenty stores to its Belgian network, currently consisting of one store near Brussels.
The British competition watchdog CMA has agreed to Amazon's acquisition of a 16 % share in Deliveroo. The deal was already signed in May 2019, but the approval was delayed for twenty months because of competition concerns.
The conflict between eyewear groups EssilorLuxottica and GrandVision is escalating: both are taking ever more drastic steps against their adversary in order to bend their "marriage" to their advantage.
Over the past six months, EssilorLuxottica (Ray-Ban, Varilux) has seen its profits evaporate almost completely. In the meantime, the planned merger with GrandVision has led to a war between the two parties.
Walmart has resumed its attempts to sell its British subsidiary Asda, which it had paused because of the coronavirus crisis. The American retail giant says however that a positive result is not guaranteed.
Marcel Boekhoorn is dropped from the board of directors at Dutch retailer Hema: the last link between former owner and the chain has been severed.
