The sale of the supermarket chain Real is delayed again. The last deadline set by Metro boss Olaf Koch for the 14th of October let some prospective customers pass. According to SPIEGEL information, Koch has postponed the deadline by ten days to October 24th.
At the latest in June, the wholesaler wanted to seal the sale of the retail subsidiary, which he negotiates with the real estate investor Redos. Traders such as Rewe, Edeka and Kaufland are to take over the majority of the 279 branches of Real. Before the end of the year, the sale of Real will hardly be secured. Because Metro takes weeks to examine the offers and to negotiate with dealers who offer the same locations. In addition, the cartel office must still examine the deal.
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The arch-rival Kaufland, who was originally interested in around one hundred shops, has made no offer according to insiders. "It's a difficult and challenging process," Metro boss Koch told SPIEGEL. But Real is one of the last ways to get to large areas in the German food retail.
Suppliers, especially the large consumer goods companies, are taking advantage of Real's uncertain situation and, according to insiders, are offering the supermarket chain worse terms in terms of purchase prices. That's sensitive to Real's margin. The operating result in the end of September last fiscal year also suffered a damper in the double-digit millions of euros.
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