The purchasing agreement reached between Auchan and Système U, which if approved will mean the fifth- and sixth-biggest food retailers in France will benefit from greater power in negotiating with suppliers, has been formally put before France’s competition authority, lsa-conso.fr reports.
The companies have submitted a joint proposal to l’Autorité de la Concurrence, which will either approve, reject or demand amendments to particulars of the updated document in the spring.
This follows the ruling from the EU’s competition authority that the feasibility of the purchasing merger, which will not apply to private label products, is one that must be decided domestically.
Le Figaro refers to the move as the “big bang of [French] distribution.” The two retailers have been working together on the latest draft of the particulars since May 2015, when La Commission de la Concurrence Européenne redirected the matter back to Paris.
© 2016 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Peter Donnelly. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
