Israel's largest supermarket chain Shufersal Ltd. (TASE:SAE) has announced that it will not complete the deal with Amit Zeev to launch Dutch food retail giant SPAR in Israel as a joint partnership, due to restrictions imposed by the Israel Competition Authority for its approval of the deal.
Shufersal said that after re-examining the data since signing the franchise agreement, it has decided not to continue with the agreement.
Under the terms of the agreement signed in March 2023, Shufersal would have held 19.9% of the partnership and Amit Zeev 80.1% of the SPAR franchise and the right to exclusively import and market SPAR products in Israel.
Shufersal CEO Ori Watermann said, "The deal to launch the SPAR chain in Israel was intended to increase competition by importing discounted products for the benefit of the Israeli consumer. Due to changing market conditions and the regulatory requirements of the Israel Competition Authority, the company has decided not to complete the deal."
He added, "Shufersal sees the private label as a strategic asset and a high-quality consumer alternative in response to the high cost of living in Israel, and will continue to expand the product portfolio in a variety of categories and support local industry and small and medium-sized suppliers."
Shortly after Shufersal’s announcement, it was reported that Yitzchak Mirilashvili , who among other things controls Channel 14 television and Rotshtein Real Estate, had become an investor in SPAR Israel within the past few weeks, and that he will hold 20% of the company.
SPAR Israel said, "SPAR Israel continues its preparations as planned and is in full swing for the opening of the nationwide chain of stores in Israel. The first branch will open in Kfar Saba at the beginning of 2024. SPAR will bring with it a shopping experience, products, prices and service that the Israeli consumer has only known abroad until now."
Dutch retail chain SPAR operates in 48 countries with local partners and has 13,623 stores serving 14.5 million customers every day. Annual sales in 2021 amounted to €41.2 billion. With average annual growth of 5.1%, SPAR expects annual sales to reach €50 billion in 2025.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on September 28, 2023.
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