Spar Austria takes over 62 Billa branches of Rewe in Croatia

The Spar Österreichische Warenhandels-AG continues to expand in Croatia and is acquiring a total of 62 Billa branches from the REWE group and the BILLA logistics centre in Sv. Helena. The takeover was sealed on 15th December 2016, the final transfer will take place after the closing in spring 2017. The deal still needs the approval of the responsible antitrust authorities. With this acquisition, the branch network of Spar Croatia will grow to over 100 locations. All 1,900 employees of Billa are to be employed by Spar. The purchase price has not been disclosed.

The acquired supermarkets are located all over Croatia - from Istria to Dalmatia, from Slavonia to the capital Zagreb - and they have a sales area of around 500 to 1,500m². After approval by the antitrust authorities, they will become Spar supermarkets.

Rudolf Staudinger, Managing Director of Spar, responsible for foreign business, explains the purchase as follows, "we have been in Croatia since 2005 and see great potential in the country. We therefore want to further expand our market position and we look forward to this coming opportunity."

Spar in Croatia
Spar Hrvatska is a full subsidiary of Spar Österreichische Warenhandels-AG. The 17 Interspar superstores and 35 Spar supermarkets in Croatia generated a gross sales turnover of 365 million euros in 2015. At the end of 2015, 2,753 employees worked at Spar Croatia.

Source: spar.at