Metro and Makro stores are for sale in Belgium
German retail group Metro is seeking to sell its Belgian operations, L’Echo and De Tijd report on Wednesday.
According to information from economic daily newspapers, the group has entrusted the investment bank Rothschild with the mandate to examine what it calls the “strategic options” which arise for its Belgian entity. An expression almost synonymous with “transfer” in financial jargon, note the daily newspapers which specify that discussions are already underway with potential acquirers.
In Belgium, the German group operates through 17 stores: 11 Metro and 6 Makro. He also largely owns the buildings where they are housed. Arrived here in 1970 to exclusively serve the self-employed and liberal professions, the group decided in 2017 to expand access to its Makro supermarkets to the general public by offering quality food products as well as festive and decorative items. Metro stores have remained reserved for catering professionals. This partial reorientation did not prevent the Belgian entity of Metro from accumulating losses, respectively of 67 million euros in 2018/2019 and 44 million in 2019/2020 for successive turnovers of 738 and 714 million. euros.