German competition regulator Bundeskartellamt has initiated the main test procedure for examining the acquisition of up to 101 Real locations from SCP Retail S.àr.l. (SCP) by Kaufland GmbH & Co.
The competition regulator said in its statement that ‘further investigations into the affected sales and procurement markets are required’ for approving the deal.
The procedure will last for four months from the registration date and will end on 12 October 2020.
In the case of mergers in the food retail sector, the Bundeskartellamt factors in the relationship between retailers and their suppliers in addition to the sales side.
Kaufland is a part of the Schwarz Group - Europe’s largest food retailer and the parent of Lidl, while SCP Retail is a Russian investment company that acquired over 270 real locations from Metro.
Power Relationships
In order to determine the prevailing structural and power relationships in the markets for the procurement of food, the Bundeskartellamt has reached out to more than 350 food manufacturers regarding 17 product groups that are to be affected.
Recently, it also carried out a comprehensive analysis of the procurement markets as part of the sector inquiry on buying power in food retailing in 2014.
At the end of 2019, the Bundeskartellamt surveyed the market conditions for the sale of food to end customers as part of the Redos / Edeka merger project.
In addition, it has carried out further investigations on the sales side since the merger of SCP / Kaufland.
© 2020 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
