The Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) has approved the purchase of EMTÉ Holding BV and its various subsidiaries by Jumbo and Coop Netherlands.
The approval of the deal means that the consortium will take over EMTÉ Holding BV, EMTÉ Supermarkten BV, EMTÉ Franchise BV and EMTÉ Vleescentrale BV, following previous owner Sligro’s decision to offload the business.
Under the takeover plan, some 79 EMTÉ stores will fall under the Jumbo formula and 51 are to operate under the Coop banner.
Market Concentration
In its ruling, the ACM said that it believed that the concentration of Jumbo stores would now be too high in three markets: Veghel, Reusel and Eindhoven.
In response, Jumbo has earmarked stores in Veghel and Reusel, and an EMTÉ store at Ardèchelaan, in Eindhoven, for sale ‘within a certain period’.
Consortium partner Coop received ACM approval for the acquisition without further conditions. The transaction is expected to be completed in the next few weeks.
Transition Period
During the transition period and the conversion to the retail formulas of Jumbo and Coop, EMTÉ is to be managed by a new chief executive, Jaap Tukker.
Tukker previously held a number of positions in food retail in the Netherlands, including 18 years at the helm of Spar Netherlands.
"We have a strong team with experienced retail specialists who will supervise this entire process on behalf of the consortium," Tukker said in a statement.
The conversion operation is expected to be completed over the course of 2019.
© 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.
