Rewe, the German retail giant, has said it sees “no major restrictions” ahead for its plans to buy Tengelmann’s Plus discount stores in the Czech Republic.
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The company’s bid to buy the 146 outlets faces an anti-trust probe by the Czech authorities, which last week asked the EU for permission to locally investigate the deal’s possible impact on competition in the country’s retail sector.
Rewe is looking to merge the Plus chain with its own discount business in the Czech Republic, Penny. If approved, the deal would create a company of 317 stores, generating over EUR1.2bn (US$1.9bn) in sales.
In an apparent blow to Rewe’s plans, the European Commission said on Friday (4 July) that the Czech competition authorities had warned that the deal would “significantly affect competition” in parts of the country.
However, Rewe told just-food that the head of the Czech Competition Authority, Martin Pecina, had insisted that there was no reason to block the deal.
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By GlobalDataLast month, Pecina told a Czech business newspaper that there were no “fundamental problems” posed by the deal.
A Rewe spokesman said: “We took note of the transfer of the procedure from the EU to the Czech competition authorities and consider it to be in good hands. Furthermore, we do not expect major restrictions.”
