Poland's UOKiK competition authority has said that it is proceeding to the second stage of its examination regarding Eurocash's planned takeover of Partner, a business that operates 26 Lewiatan stores.
Eurocash operates stores under its own banner, as well as under the banners Delikatesy Centrum and Eco, the online platform frisco.pl, and its mobile ABC on wheels chain, as well as a comprehensive wholesale operation.
In its assessment, UOKiK sad that it plans to examine whether the activities of both Eurocash and Lewiatan overlap in any local markets, as well as the transaction's possible effect on retailer-supplier relationships.
It added that the commencement of the second stage of proceedings 'does not determine the decision that will be made in the future'.
The transaction was submitted to UOKiK for examination at the end of June.
As Polish news portal www.wiadomoscihandlowe.pl recently noted, the main shareholder of Partner is Wojciech Kruszewski, the former president of Lewiatan Holding, who is selling his interests due to lack of succession plans.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
