Spar Croatia is set to become the nation's third largest grocery retailer after the closing of the deal to acquire Billa’s assets in the country.
Last December, Spar said it would acquire over 62 Billa stores in Croatia together with the logistics centre in Sveta Helana, a deal that was approved by the country’s antitrust body in February.
In an interview for local daily Vecernji List, the president of the board of Spar Croatia, Helmut Fenzl, said that the merger operations will last until the end of the year, while the rebranding of the Billa stores will be completed by the summer.
He pointed out that Spar’s total turnover will now amount to HRK 5 billion (€671.4 million), with nearly 5,000 employees, while the market share is set to rise from 6% to 10%.
According to Fenzl, aside from the €12 million for rebranding Billa stores, Spar plans to invest an extra €50 million per year in 2017 and 2018 for new projects.
Two new supermarkets will be opened this week in Selac and Zagreb. Priority will be given to expansion in those regions of Croatia where the retailer does not yet have a significant presence, such as Istria and Dalmatia.
© 2017 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
