Serbian supermarket chain Aman has obtained the approval of antitrust authorities for the acquisition of Leskovac-based retailer - Orion.
According to the ruling by Serbia’s Commission for Protection of Competition, the merger will not create a monopoly situation in the city of Leskovac and surrounding areas, where Aman has a market share of 0-5% in revenue and Orion has between 10-20% in revenue and store count.
Major Players
Primanova and Mercator-S are two major players in the Serbian retail sector with a market share of 10% - 20%, while Lidl has a share of up to 5%.
Aman is one of the five biggest grocery retailers in Serbia, with a market share of 0-5% in terms of revenue and store count.
The company has 214 stores in 24 cities and towns, of which 154 are in Belgrade.
It was founded in 1992 by Nedal Halil, a Jordanian with Serbian citizenship.
Organic Growth And Acquisitions
The company has significantly expanded its presence in recent years, mainly through organic growth and acquisitions.
In 2015, it acquired eight Interex hypermarkets in Belgrade, Čačak, Niš, Šabac, Obrenovac, and Valjevo from French retailer Intermarche.
It also took over a network of neighbourhood stores from Belgrade-based Višnjica Dućani, and seven supermarkets from Slovenia’s Mercator-S.
Orion had a network of 33 stores - 29 in Leskovac, two in Medvedja, and one each in Bojnik and Vlasotince.
The company, owned by local businessman Jovan Stankovic, catered mainly to the HoReCa segment.
Rebranding
Aman has rebranded and reopened all the 33 stores, and has taken on board all 300 employees of Orion.
The retailer has also updated the product assortment in these stores, with bigger outlets offering up to 12,500 articles.
The new assortment includes products from Aman’s 12 private-label brands.
© 2019 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.
