“More bids than expected” for Makro/Metro Belgium

The deadline for acquisition bids on the Belgian branches of Makro and Metro has passed, and there are more candidates than expected. However, it remains to be seen what this means for the retailer’s employees.

More than two

The extension of the deadline by a week seems to have had positive results for Makro Cash & Carry Belgium. In the end, a “significant number of bids” were put forward in time, business newspaper De Tijd reports.

Nick Peeters, responsible to find the best candidate for the acquisition, admitted that the success is beyond his expectations. Last week, he admitted that two candidates had stepped forward to acquire parts of the retailer’s Belgian branch, but now it seems that more candidates came forward. More details are unavailable so far, pending further negotiations with the court of commerce and with the employees.

However, this does not necessarily mean good news for all of the employees. The two known candidates for an acquisition, current CEO Vincent Nolf and Dutch wholesaler Sligro, are only interested in wholesale chain Metro. Cash&carry chain Makro, which has been haemorrhaging money in the last few years, may be completely left out of any deal. It is now up to Peeters and his colleagues to find a solution that saves as many jobs as possible, but that may well be quite the challenge…