Lithuanian retailer Maxima Grupe has extended the period set for the acquisition of Emperia Holding, which controls the Polish retail chain Stokrotka.
The company has now prolonged the tender offer until 12 April, due to an ongoing competition investigation.
"The Polish Office of Competition and Consumer Protection is still conducting an assessment of the transaction, which due to its large volume requires more time," said Petras Jašinskas, chairman of the board at Maxima Grupė.
"Accordingly, we have prolonged the tender offer concerning the acquisition of the shares issued by Emperia Holding. We expect to receive the permission in the nearest future.”
Takeover Move
Maxima submitted the offer to acquire 100% of Emperia's shares last November, offering PLN 100 per share, for a total of PLN 1.19 billion (around €283 million).
Polish retail chain Stokrotka currently has 436 stores in the country, with market share of around 20%, and achieved turnover of €570 million in 2016.
Meanwhile, Maxima Grupe operates over 550 stores across Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Bulgaria and Poland, including the Maxima, T-Market, and Aldik chains, and achieved turnover of €2.69 billion in 2016.
Last month, the retail company named Dalius Misiūnas as its new CEO, replacing Robertas Čipkus.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Sarah Harford. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
