Delhaize acquires Louis Delhaize convenience stores

Delhaize is acquiring its competitor Delfood, the two companies announced on Monday. The acquisition includes all of Delfood's 325 convenience stores, two-thirds of which are under the Louis Delhaize brand. Financial details were not disclosed.

Although they sound similar, Delhaize and Louis Delhaize were competing convenience store chains. Their similar names come from a a shared family history: Louis Delhaize, who established his namesake company in 1875, was the brother of Jules and Auguste Delhaize, the founders of Delhaize.

Exactly 150 years later, the two companies are joining after all, thanks to an acquisition by Ahold Delhaize. The US-European giant, which itself was created after Dutch company Ahold merged with Delhaize Group in 2016, has acquired Delfood for an undisclosed amount, according to a press release.

Subject to approval

While Delhaize primarily operates large supermarkets, Louis Delhaize focuses on smaller convenience stores. The branding will remain unchanged, as the "Louis Delhaize" name is included in the transaction.

In the short term, there will be no changes for customers, an Ahold Delhaize spokesperson said. The acquisition will not be completed until the end of 2025 and is subject to approval by the Belgian Competition Authority.

The deal is the latest example of a consolidating supermarket industry. The sector has seen many such acquisitions in recent years, including Ahold Delhaize's 1.3 billion euro purchase of Romanian supermarket chain Profi, which was completed just last week.

Consolidation

Belgium has seen an influx of foreign supermarkets in recent years, including the Dutch Jumbo and Albert Heijn. Others, such as Aldi and Lidl, continue to open new stores, resulting in ever-increasing competition.

In October 2023, Flemish SME organisation Unizo reported that Belgium had 3.08 supermarkets per 10,000 inhabitants, the highest number of supermarkets per capita in Europe.

This makes it increasingly difficult for smaller stores to compete with the large chains, leading to consolidation in the sector. Louis Delhaize Group, the holding behind Delfood, also sold its Match and Smatch chains to the much larger Colruyt Group last year.

As well as acquiring competitors, Delhaize has also been carrying out reforms of its own. In 2023, it decided to franchise all 128 Delhaize supermarkets. Despite widespread union protests, the franchising process was completed a year later.

 

A Louis Delhaize convenience store in Brussels. PHOTO © Peter Hilz/Hollandse Hoogte

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