SPAR Group Austria

Weinhold Legal advised Austrian SPAR group, one of the leading retail chains, in the sale of two of its subsidiaries in the Czech Republic to Dutch Royal Ahold group, making Ahold the largest retailer in the Czech Republic. The purchase price for the business which comprises 36 INTERSPAR hypermarkets and 14 SPAR supermarkets with an annual turnover of about 540 million EUR and almost 4 700 employees amounted to 192 million EUR. The transaction was reported in media in March 2014 as the largest ever retail chain acquisition in the Czech market. Our advice included legal assistance in structuring the transaction; a seller’s due diligence of selected matters; participation in negotiations; preparation of the contractual documentation under Czech law; and a review of the contractual documentation under Austrian law. Our activities further comprised representation of SPAR in the proceedings before the Czech Antimonopoly Office regarding approval of concentration of undertakings.