Dutch wholesaler Sligro Food Group will acquire Metro's retail portfolio in Belgium for €47m. Following the completion of the deal, the company, which will take over nine Metro outlets across the country and its regional head office, will become the largest food wholesaler in Belgium.
"In recent years we have been preparing the organisational structure, our teams, and the logistics and the IT infrastructure in Belgium for this development. We are incredibly excited to be able to put that all into action now," said Sligro's chief executive Koen Slippens.
The company would offer workers from Metro's Antwerp North outlet, which it won't be taking over, jobs at the nearby Sligro-ISPC outlet, while the Evergem outlet and its staff would be transferred to food service market wholesaler Van Zon. It is not yet known what will become of Metro's online activities in the country. Sligro said the Belgian Competition Authority, which supervises Metro's restructuring in the country, had granted an exception based on its earlier investigation that would allow the transaction could go ahead immediately.
