Wednesday, June 16, 1999
Royal Ahold, the international food retailer, today received regulatory approval from the Dutch antitrust authority NMA to finalize its acquisition of Gastronoom, a food supplier to the Dutch hospitality sector. The transaction, involving an amount of approximately USD 160 million, will considerably strengthen Ahold's position in the strategic institutional market. Ahold will now merge Gastronoom with its existing institutional food supply company GVA. The combined operation, with sales of approximately USD 0.8 billion, employs 1,800 people.
By combining GVA and Gastronoom into one entity, Ahold creates a specialized wholesale company servicing the spectrum of institutional customers including the health sector, staff restaurants, catering companies and the hospitality market. The integration enhances Ahold's position and offers considerable opportunities for new growth. Seamless network
GVA specializes in the larger institutional markets, preparing meal components for the health sector, staff restaurants and catering companies. Gastronoom has established a seamless network of distribution centers and sales points in the hospitality sector, in which 60% of its sales are generated. Dry groceries, frozen goods, chilled foods and fresh products are delivered to the hospitality sector and other institutional markets in one shipment. In The Netherlands, Ahold also owns the Albert Heijn supermarket chain, with 1998 sales of approximately USD 5.3 billion, four specialty store chains and several production companies. Ahold also owns a 73% stake in wholesaler Schuitema. Total 1998 sales in The Netherlands amounted to approximately USD 8.5 billion.
'We plan to integrate Gastronoom and GVA swiftly and benefit from the economies of scale,' said Jan Andreae, Ahold Corporate Executive Board member responsible for European activities. 'The acquisition enables us not only to meet the demands of our institutional customers but also develop a range of new services in time to come. We are excited by the green light and we can't wait to complete the acquisition and bring the two companies together.'