A pair that could soon weigh very heavily in the mass distribution sector. Intermarché and Auchan announced, this Tuesday, December 5, their merger “to discuss the bases of a long-term purchasing alliance”, with the aim of creating the first French purchasing center, according to a joint press release.
“The scope of discussions includes in particular the negotiation on the purchase of consumer food products from major national brands and the negotiation on the purchase of non-food products,” affirm the two distributors. “This project aims to create the first French purchasing center in order to best defend the interests of consumers,” add Intermarché and Auchan in their press release, which confirmed information from La Lettre.
Already in negotiations with Casino
These discussions “complement” an alliance that already exists between Intermarché and Casino through the Auxo purchasing center, continue the two brands.
At the end of November, Auchan and Intermarché had also confirmed a joint offer to buy back all the hypermarkets and supermarkets not yet sold by the distributor Casino, in great financial difficulty for many months, and whose future since its takeover by the Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky last July still remains very unclear.
Intermarché had already agreed with Casino a few months ago for the purchase of 119 of its stores, plus around sixty as an option. Around sixty had already changed brands at the beginning of October.
Very significant competition
This new announcement from Auchan and Intermarché on purchases this Tuesday comes as Casino employees demonstrated this Tuesday in the Paris region and in Saint-Etienne, where the group’s headquarters are located, fearing a “cut-out sale” of the company.
This desire for a merger between Auchan and Intermarché is part of very strong competition between major retail brands. A competition exacerbated by inflation which for months has kept the sector leader, E.Leclerc, at a pace that its competitors are trying to follow, including by buying stores in order to increase their market share other than through commercial performance alone.