Following completion of the investigation by the French competition authorities, Colruyt Group completed the sale of 100 stores and 45 DATS 24 gas stations on February 28. The stores for which no buyer was found have been closed.
Financial impact
The search for buyers for the real estate of stores for which no buyer was found and for the warehouses in Dole Choisey, Dole Wilson, and Rochefort-sur-Nenon, as well as for the lease of the warehouse in Gondreville-Fontenoy, is continuing, the retailer announced in a press release on Monday.
The company also provided an update on the financial impact of the operation. The sale of the stores (including business activities and real estate) will generate cash proceeds of approximately €230 million in the second half of the 2025/26 financial year, while the implementation of the social agreement will result in an estimated restructuring cost of between €55 million and €65 million.
Colruyt had been operating its own supermarkets in France since 1996 but failed to make the business profitable. Most of the stores were taken over by Groupement Mousquetaires (the group behind Intermarché and Netto), while others went to E.Leclerc, Coopérative U, and Carrefour. According to the unions, the exit from France cost around 700 jobs.
