Germany's biggest supermarket chain, Edeka, could see its deal to purchase stores from retail group Tengelmann vetoed by the country's competition watchdog.
ESM reported in December that Edeka would have to bide its time in its attempts to rubber-stamp the takeover deal of Tengelmann's 451-store Kaiser's business, as Germany's competition watchdog investigated the move.
It has now been reported that the watchdog could block the deal unless the retailers address its concerns about market dominance.
In December, Tagesspiegel reported that Edeka and Tengelmann had started the takeover process, with negotiations reportedly taking place about purchasing products together and changes to the store network.
Now, according to Reuters, Andreas Mundt, who heads the competition watchdog, said that the takeover would further limit competition in big cities like Berlin and Munich, giving Edeka a market share of more than 10 per cent in some places, and it would also limit competition in purchasing.
The report adds that the retailers have until 26 February to respond to the watchdog and could offer concessions, such as selling off certain stores.
© 2015 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article written by Andrew Jennings.
