Ahold Delhaize Acquires Delfood Stores in Belgium
Ahold Delhaize’s local Belgian brand Delhaize has reached an agreement with the louis delhaize Group to acquire all shares in Delfood NV convenience stores.
The acquisition includes all 325 stores supplied by Delfood, both from the louis delhaize chain and those using other brand names, as well as the logistics services and the head office in Belgium. The louis delhaize brand is part of this transaction and will continue to exist. Delfood's logistics activities and head office will also continue to exist and will continue to coordinate louis delhaize's activities.
"The acquisition of Delfood and its stores complements our existing network of stores in Belgium,” said Xavier Piesvaux, brand president of Delhaize. “With this acquisition, Delhaize can strengthen its position in the Belgian food retail market and can make its food and fresh expertise available to the louis delhaize points of sale. This allows us to stand out even more in the convenience segment, complementary to our existing proximity stores. We are convinced that we can further develop the potential of these louis delhaize and independent points of sale, and together create growth with Delfood’s experienced associates and affiliates."
The deal also unites two competing companies that were founded by the Delhaize brothers. Louis Delhaize, who established his namesake company in 1875, was the brother of Jules and Auguste Delhaize, the founders of Delhaize.
Piesvaux acknowledged that the deal was a "nice nod to our history: After more than 150 years of existence, this agreement brings together two companies that bear the same name and originated from the same founding family.”
Delhaize and Delfood will work together to determine the next steps in the acquisition process in accordance with the applicable rules. Details of the agreement will not be disclosed until the transaction has been approved by the Belgian Competition Authority. It is expected to close by end of 2025.
The announcement to acquire Delfood NV comes on the heels of Ahold Delhaize's completion of its acquisition of Profi Rom Food SRL in Romania. Mihai Spulber, currently SVP operations and supply chain at Mega Image, another Ahold Delhaize brand, will replace Gaetan Pacton as Profi’s brand president, effective July 1.
For its third quarter, Ahold Delhaize reported group net sales of €22.0 billion (US $23.6 billion), an increase of 1.0% at constant exchange rates and up 0.2% at actual exchange rates. Group net sales were driven by comparable-sales growth excluding gasoline of 1.4% and net store openings, with group net sales growth partly offset by the divestment of FreshDirect and lower gasoline sales. Q3 group comps excluding gasoline had a net positive impact of about 0.3 percentage point.
Netherlands-based Ahold Delhaize is one of the world’s largest food retail groups. The company’s family of local brands serves 63 million customers each week, both in stores and online, in the United States, Europe, and Indonesia. Together, these brands employ more than 402,000 associates in 7,716 grocery and specialty stores. The Ahold Delhaize USA division is No. 11 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2024 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. PG also named the company one of its Retailers of the Century.
