Germany's second-largest food retailer, Rewe Group, is set to purchase 328 Plus discount stores from domestic competitor Tengelmann Group to add to its Penny chain in the country.
The decision could benefit fellow retailer Edeka Group, which was told in July by the German Federal Cartel Office that it could only complete the acquisition of 2,900 Plus outlets if it abandoned 378 of those stores.
Silke Haul, spokeswoman for the cartel office, told Bloomberg that the antitrust authority has approved Rewe's move for the 328 Plus stores, but was still negotiating over Edeka's purchase of the remaining outlets.
'We are expecting a final decision by the cartel office in December,' Edeka spokesman Gernot Kasel told local media.
Rewe added that its newly acquired stores would be intergrated into its Penny discount chain and renamed by March 2009.
