The owners of Italian supermarket chain Esselunga have reached an agreement for a future stock exchange listing, according to La Repubblica.
After the death of founder Bernardo Caprotti, 70% of the company is owned by Caprotti's wife Giuliana and their daughter Marina. The remaining 30% is in the hands of Caprotti’s two children from his first marriage, Giuseppe and Violetta.
New Deal
La Repubblica reports that the deal was brokered by Citigroup and will consist of two stages. First Esselunga will acquire retail estate company Villata Partecipazioni, after which Supermercati Italiani, the holding company that manages Esselunga, would be floated on the stock exchange. This second stage could take months or more than a year.
The agreement between the owners, who had been in dispute over the family estate, aims to secure the company’s future and that of its 23,000 employees.
Last week it was reported that Chinese property and energy investment group Yida International had offered €7.5 billion to purchase the Italian supermarket chain.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine
