Tesco beefs up central Europe presence with new Czech stores
Tesco has bought 128 retail stores in the Czech Republic, further boosting its presence in the central European market.
Tesco said it has acquired the Czech arm of the Koruna and Zabka chain of stores from private equity firm Penta Investments for £34.3m, subject to regulatory approval.
Tesco currently operates 151 stores in the Czech Republic and says it is the leading hypermarket retailer in central Europe, also operating in Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Turkey.
The 47 Koruna shops Tesco has acquired will be converted into Tesco Express stores and the 81 Zabka kiosks will continue to run as franchised stores.
Chief executive of Tesco Czech Republic Philip J Clarke says: “The acquisition of Koruna will complement our continued organic growth of Tesco Express in the Czech Republic.
“The chain is a good for with our Express format and we feel we can make improvements to the stores’ range, price and overal customer shopping trip.”
Tesco’s reported total European sales increase of 7.6%, with like-for-like sales growth at 3.6% for the three months to 27 November this year.
