Germany's competition authorities have today given Edeka the green light to take over the Plus chain of discount stores owned by the Tengelmann group.
The largest food retailer in Germany had been obliged to wait six months for the official ruling, which clears the way for it to begin integrating the Plus shops into its Netto chain of 2,500 stores that already turn over some €6bn. To do so, Edeka has been required by the competition authorities to offload some 378 Plus stores located for the most part in eastern Germany.
'This is a good day for consumers and for Plus employees because the waiting is over and we can now implement our clear strategy going forward,' said Markus Mosa, Edeka AG's board spokesman.
In a press release issued today, Edeka said the competition authority ruling meant that the €38bn food retail group was now able fully to develop its discount arm and to establish Netto as a major discount retailer of fresh foods across Germany as a whole. Some 1,750 of the 2,500 Plus stores in Germany would become Netto stores over the next 18 months, Mr Mosa said, with all 25,000 employees joining the group.
'The Netto concept has some very clear advantages for shoppers: a wide range of fresh foods and low prices,' said Edeka's spokesman.
Edeka plans to develop a new city-centre discount store concept for the remaining 750 stores under the Plus name. These neighbourhood stores would focus on a limited range of fresh convenience foods.
Edeka says Netto is poised to become a major force among Germany's discounters with some 3,800 outlets, 50,000 employees and gross annual sales of €10.4bn.
