Polish retailer and wholesaler Eurocash has filed for competition approval with the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, with regard to its planned acquisition of a stake in Partner sp.z o.o.
Partner, a Lipno-based company that operates 26 stores under the Lewiatan banner, is currently owned by Asteria Holding Sp. z o.o., whose shareholders include Wojciech Kruszewski, the long-time CEO of Lewiatan Holding S.A.
Succession Issues
Kruszewski said that he had decided to sell the company because his children were not interested in succeeding him, as they were pursuing opportunities in other business areas.
"I have spent many years building a company that successfully operates stores in the Lewiatan chain," Kruszewski said.
"I had no doubt in deciding that the best buyer of the stake in our company will be Eurocash, the majority shareholder of Lewiatan Holding and, at the same time, the largest supplier of products to the Lewiatan chain, including to Partner," he added.
Jacek Owczarek, a member of Eurocash’s management board, commented on the deal, saying, "The challenge of succession in a family business concerns many entrepreneurs, owners of small and medium stores in Poland.
"With this transaction, we are showing that, as Eurocash Group, we are ready to support, on an operational and equity level, the further development of stores operated by our franchisees," Owczarek added.
Improved Market Position
If the deal is approved, Eurocash said that it plans to develop Partner’s Lewiatan-branded stores, in order to improve their market position to more successfully compete against discounters and large chains. As part of a large group, the stores can take advantage of purchase and cost synergies, Eurocash said.
Eurocash is the largest Polish business in the food wholesale distribution sector. Franchise and partner chains include more than 14,000 independent stores operating as abc, Groszek, Delikatesy Centrum, Lewiatan, Euro Sklep and Gama.
The Lewiatan chain received the accolade of Retailer of the Year during the Poland & CEE 2018 Retail Summit, in the category of Best Franchise Concept. The chain boasts more than 1,300 independent stores.
In May, Eurocash announced that it had signed the final agreement on its acquisition of Mila Supermarkets from Cyprus-based Domelius Limited.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Karen Henderson. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
