Metro Austria has announced the acquisition of C&C Abholgroßmärkte GmbH (AGM), a logistics operation operated by REWE Group, taking control of nine wholesale locations as well as a delivery business.
AGM, which is based in Salzburg, boasts around 20,000 customers, and generated total sales of €125 million in 2019.
With the transaction, Metro Austria said that it will be able to expand its operations in Styria, Carinthia and Burgenland, while also expanding its offering for customers.
The value of the transaction has not been revealed, and it remains subject to the approval of the Austrian Federal Competition Authority.
Recent Wholesale Acquisitions
It follows on from several other high profile acquisitions by Metro over the past year – in October of last year, it acquired Aviludo Group, Portugal's second-largest food supplier, followed by the purchase of Davigel Spain from the US-based wholesaler Sysco.
It also recently strengthened its partnership with fish processing specialist Filpromer, acquiring a 25% stake in the Cherbourg, France-based business.
“After Aviludo, Davigel and Filpromer, the acquisition of AGM stores is a logical next step to further strengthen the service offering for our customers and our reach – physically and in terms of delivery," commented Steffen Greubel, chief executive, Metro AG.
"These transactions enable us to offer our customers real added value in terms of products and services while at the same time further expanding our position in the wholesale sector in Western Europe."
HoReCa Boost
Greubel added that the return of the HoReCa trade in recent months has helped boost business at many of its recent acquisitions, and he expects AGM to be no different.
"We expect a positive contribution from the acquisition of the AGM stores in Austria," he said. "Overall, Metro is emerging stronger from the pandemic, continues to gain market share organically and is actively seizing the opportunity to drive the consolidation of the highly fragmented wholesale industry.”
Earlier this week, Metro announced that it was ceasing its operations in Myanmar.
© 2021 European Supermarket Magazine. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. For more Retail news, click here. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
