Selver acquires Comarket supermarket chain
Estonian supermarket Selver has signed a deal by which it has acquired the Comarket chain of supermarkets. Selver, which is owned by the Tallinna Kaubamaja Group, will also acquire two branches of the Delice supermarket as well as the Solaris food store, in addition to the 16 Comarket outlets.
"It has been a long-term strategic goal for Tallinna Kaubamaja Grupp to expand our operations in the area of supermarkets and this deal helps us achieve it," said Raul Puusepp, Tallinna Kaubamaja Group AS board chair, on Monday.
"Down the years, we have continued to organically develop and grow the market share of Selver, at the same time actively seeking new opportunities for development. It is my great pleasure to announce that as a result of this deal we are able to add a company with strong market position to our group," he added.
Selver AS is a subsidiary of the publicly listed Tallinna Kaubamaja Grupp established in 1995, which currently operates 53 stores across Estonia to a total of 101 000 square meters of sales area and around 3,000 employees. Its turnover in 2019 stood at €469,4 million.
Mart Vips, ABC Grupi AS board chair, from whom Selver is making the acquisitions, said it is an important deal for the development of the entire food and essential goods sector.
"In order to guarantee the best choice of goods at a reasonable price for the customer, food trade companies in Estonia need enough scale. There has been significant interest in our company over the last couple of years, but we have now found a suitable new owner and agreed on the terms with Selver. I am delighted that we have reached an agreement with a partner who shares our values," says Vips.
Kristi Lomp, executive board member at Selver AS, added that the merger of two local commercial chains creates a synergy by uniting valuable experiences and successes from both sides.
"A common and tighter chain of food stores supports trade which is based on Estonian capital, thereby valuing local high-quality Estonian goods and client-oriented service," she said.
Selver will acquire 16 Comarket stores in Harju, Pärnu and Tartu counties, two Delice food stores in Viimsi, just outside Tallinn, and Pärnu, and the food emporium in the Solaris Center in central Tallinn.
Once the deal has been confirmed by the competition authority, which it has not been yet, Selver will operate 72 stores across Estonia, up from its current 53 stores.
Current branding to continue for meantime
The deal does not involve other companies owned by the ABC Grupi AS.
Andrus Põld is to continue as of ABC Supermarkets CEO, and ABC Supermarkets will for now continue with the current brand names listed above, as subsidiaries of Selver.
ABC Supermarkets was established in 2002, when the company acquired 10 stores operating under the SPAR brand name.
The Comarket brandname emerged in 2003, the Delice brand and Solaris Center food store following in 2009.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte