Eurocash : files application for approval for concentration in connection with planned acquisition of stake in Partner sp. z o.o.

Press release

25 June 2018

Eurocash Group files application for approval for concentration in connection with planned acquisition of stake in Partner sp. z o.o.

Eurocash has filed an application with the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) for an approval for concentration in connection with a planned acquisition of shares in Partner Sp. z o.o., based in Lipno. The company operates 26 Lewiatan-branded stores.

The seller is Asteria Holding Sp. z o.o., one of whose shareholders is Wojciech Kruszewski, a long-time CEO of Lewiatan Holding S.A.

"I have spent many years building a company that successfully operates stores in the Lewiatan chain. Now, I decided that the time had come to pass the company to successors. However, it turned out that my children were not interested in succession as they achieved professional successes in other areas of business. This is also why they are not interested in running our company. At the same time, numerous share purchase proposals turned up. Therefore, we decided to select a potential buyer. I had no doubt in deciding that the best buyer of the stake in our company will be Eurocash, the majority shareholder of Lewiatan Holding and at the same time the largest supplier of products to the Lewiatan chain, including to Partner," said Wojciech Kruszewski.

"The challenge of succession in a family business concerns many entrepreneurs, owners of small and medium stores in Poland. With this transaction, we are showing that as Eurocash Group we are ready to support, on an operational and equity level, the further development of stores operated by our franchisees. Another example of our approach was the purchase of shares in companies operating Delikatesy Centrum stores but we are also giving our partners an opportunity to exit their investment and pursue other business plans," said Jacek Owczarek, member of Eurocash's management board.

If the stake purchase goes through, Eurocash plans to further develop the Partner chain stores under the Lewiatan brand, strengthening their market position so that they can even more effectively compete against discount stores and large chains. By belonging to a large group, these stores will benefit from purchasing and cost synergies.

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The Lewiatan chain was named Retailer of the Year during Poland & CEE 2018 Retail Summit for the best franchise concept in a competition for the Market of the Year 2018. Lewiatan consists of over 1300 independent stores, which thanks to the chain's strategy and far-reaching vision, are effectively competing in their markets, driving the local economy.

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Eurocash Group is the largest Polish business operating in the wholesale distribution of food and in providing marketing support to independent Polish retailers. The franchise and partner chains supported by Eurocash include over 14,000 independent stores operating under brands such as abc, Groszek, Delikatesy Centrum, Lewiatan, Euro Sklep and Gama.

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