South Africa's Spar Group is poised to take majority control of Polish retailer Piotr i Paweł, according to media reports, adding to the group's European retail operations in Ireland, southwest England, and Switzerland.
News portal wiadomoscihandlowe.pl reported that Spar Group, alongside TFI Capital Partners, are to establish a new company, which will formally operate the Piotr i Paweł business.
No details have emerged as to the value of the acquisition, which will be subject to competition approval by UOKiK, the Polish competition authority.
According to wiadomoscihandlowe.pl, the takeover of the business will 'almost certainly' lead to the end of the Piotr i Paweł name, with many of the stores likely to transfer to the Spar banner in time.
This presents a potential issue, according to reports, in that the Spar Polska brand has been operated by the Bać-Pol Group since 2010.
Growing Presence
The latest acquisition furthers Spar Group's presence in Europe.
In Ireland, Spar Group owns the BWG Group, operators of the Spar business in that country, while in the UK, it operates stores through Appleby Westward in south west England. Appleby Westward was acquired by BWG in 2017.
In Switzerland, it operates chiefly in the German-speaking part of the country, with 39 company-owned and 142 independent stores.
In South Africa, the business operates more than 2,000 stores, while it also has a presence in Angola, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique, Malawi and Lesotho.
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
