Polish wholesaler Eurocash has announced the takeover of Mila S.A., owner of a network of 188 stores located mainly in central Poland.
The group said that the purchase of Mila is part of its strategy to build a ‘nationwide supermarket chain based both on cooperation with franchise partners and running own stores’, which, in turn, will assist with the development of its supply chain in new regions of Poland.
Transaction Value
The transaction value was set at PLN 350 million (€82 million). The deal will be completed following competition approval by UOKiK, Poland’s competition body.
“Our mission is to consistently improve the competitiveness of Polish independent retail stores,” commented Jacek Owczarek, a Eurocash board member. “In view of the unwavering expansion of discount stores, to ensure our customers' competitiveness, we must work to increase the scale of our group's operations and improve our efficiency.”
High Competence
Owczarek added that the Mila network of stores has “very high competence in running supermarkets with a wide assortment of fresh produce. Thanks to this acquisition, we are taking another step towards building a nationwide supermarket chain that includes both franchise outlets and outlets run by Eurocash, especially in regions of the country where the franchise network is not yet well developed.”
In 2016, Mila’s 188 stores generated sales of around PLN 1.5 billion (€0.35 billion). It operates the majority of its stores in areas such as Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Mazowieckie, Łódź, Lubuskie, Wielkopolska, Świętokrzyskie and Śląskie.
“We know that Mila will be very well managed until the closing of the transaction, and later within the Eurocash Group,” added Owczarek.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
