Australia blocks Pick n Pay’s exit strategy
Australia’s
competition watchdog has stopped South African grocer, Pick n Pay’s
sale of Franklins supermarket chain, to prevent creating a monopoly for
would-be buyer, Metcash.
The Australian
Competition and Consumer Commission said the A$215 million sale of the
chain would give Metcash a monopoly on grocery wholesaling in New South
Wales.
Pick n Pay, which
is selling the chain so it can focus on pushing further into
fast-growing Africa, will likely have to sell the business piecemeal.
Plan B of selling
the individual stores to independent supermarkets is not as attractive
because it may be a long process, and the net proceeds might not be as
good,” a Johannesburg-based analyst, who declined to be named, said.
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