Friday, March 19, 1999
Disco-Ahold International Holdings, the joint venture in Argentina in which Royal Ahold, the food retailer, has a 50% stake, has agreed to acquire two Argentine food retailers, Supamer and Gonzalez, which operate a total of 75 stores. The transactions, subject to customary conditions, are expected to close at the end of April. The acquisitions boost annualized sales in Latin America to approximately USD 5 billion and the number of stores in six countries to well over 350.
In the province of Cordoba, Supamer operates 46 supermarkets under the Americanos name and 18 convenience stores under the Mini Sol name with joint sales of USD 190 million. In the province of San Juan, Gonzalez operates 11 urban supermarkets with sales of USD 42 million. Disco already operates seven stores in Cordoba and two in San Juan.
Supamer and Gonzalez will complement Disco's broad selection of quality products at competitive prices by their emphasis on customer service and providing a pleasant shopping environment. After completion of the transaction, Disco's store base will number 186, representing a total selling surface of approximately two million sq.ft. (206,000 sq.m.).
The alliance between Ahold and Velox Retail Holdings, its partner in Argentina, has a 90% stake in Disco and already operates 111 Disco supermarkets throughout the country with annualized sales of approximately USD 1.6 billion. In addition, the partnership has a 65% stake in the Santa Isabel chain which operates 90 stores in Chile, Peru, Paraguay and Ecuador with annualized sales of USD 0.8 billion.
Elsewhere in Latin America, Ahold is co-owner for 50% of the successful Brazilian food retailer Bompreço, market leader in the northeast of Brazil with 1998 sales of USD 1.8 billion and 91 large stores.