Lebensmittel-Einzelhandel: Kartellamt erlaubt Rewe Übernahme von 38 Tegut-Märkten

The Federal Cartel Office has approved the acquisition of 38 Tegut supermarkets by the retail giant Rewe, one less than Rewe initially intended. Rewe has committed to not acquiring the two locations within a four-year period. Cartel Office chief Andreas Mundt stated that this prevents a significant deterioration of competition conditions for consumers in the affected regions.

The two locations in Marburg and Schlüchtern, Hessia, are the ones Rewe will forego. By acquiring these 38 markets, Rewe will gain a significantly smaller share of the federal procurement volume, at less than 0.2 percent, according to the Cartel Office. A significant hindrance to effective competition in procurement markets is not expected.

The procurement market includes food and other goods and services that Rewe purchases from suppliers. The Cartel Office sees a very high market concentration in the German retail sector, dominated by the four major players - Rewe, Edeka, Aldi, and Lidl/Kaufland, who together account for over 90 percent of the sales in the German retail sector.

Manufacturers of food and other supermarket goods have few buyers, making their negotiating position weak. For them, it is a bad news that the independent buyer Tegut will disappear from the market. Cartel Office Mundt speaks of a very high concentration in the retail sector, but also noted that competition exists between the large trading companies.

Tegut's acquisition will not change this. The high concentration alone is not enough under cartel law to prevent a merger, the decision depends on whether the concrete acquisition significantly worsens competition conditions. Edeka is expected to take over the majority of the Tegut network, consisting of 300 locations. The Cartel Office has approved the acquisition of 178 stores by Edeka's competitor, Rewe.

This is less than initially planned - Edeka has committed not to acquire 24 stores within four years. Tante Enso, the smart-store chain, is also allowed to retain 36 Tegut locations. The fate of the remaining Tegut stores is still unclear. Tegut was founded in Fulda in 1947 and has been part of the Migros Group since 2013. The chain operates in six federal states, with the majority of its stores in Hesse. Tegut employed approximately 7,500 people. The brand is set to be discontinued.