Gordon Brothers, the global advisory, restructuring and investment firm, has been engaged by Danish Salling Group, owner of the Netto chain, to exclusively manage the store sell-out program of the Polish Tesco stores and fulfil the mergers and acquisitions process.
Following Tesco’s restructuring decision to exit Poland and focus on its wider Eastern European offering across Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, Salling Group agreed to acquire Tesco’s 301 Polish outlets and two distribution centres in June 2020, with a view to transforming and remerchandising the majority to Netto brand stores.
The acquisition was recently approved by the Polish antitrust authorities, and Gordon Brothers was appointed to autonomously manage and trade-out up to 285 Tesco stores in Poland, many of which are located in major cities including Warsaw, Lodz and Kraków.
Delivering a full turnkey solution, Gordon Brothers will manage the sell-out of the retail inventory, including all furniture, fixtures, and equipment, enabling the management teams of Salling Group to focus on the store conversions and safeguarding jobs.
This complex deal was secured during the COVID-19 pandemic, with initial processes managed remotely and a specialist team deployed locally. The Gordon Brothers and Salling Group teams worked in close collaboration to deliver a positive outcome for Polish customers with the launch of the newly branded Netto stores.
“As Gordon Brothers’ first engagement in Poland, this project sits firmly in our realm of expertise, thanks to our decades of specialist experience in retail sell-out and country exit strategies”, said Olaf Galler, Senior Managing Director, Retail at Gordon Brothers. “We’re pleased to collaborate with and support the Salling Group on this major deal in Poland and look forward to a synergistic relationship that delivers a successful project outcome.”
Gordon Brothers is a natural fit to manage this restructuring process and country exit given the firm’s proven success delivering similar projects across 41 countries worldwide, including the restructuring of a large hypermarket store chain in Germany and projects in Spain, Denmark, The Netherlands, Italy, and countries as diverse as Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Borneo.
“We chose to partner with Gordon Brothers because of their proven track record in helping retailers with restructuring for decades, ensuring this project will be delivered effectively and on time in preparation for our Netto roll-out across the region, maintaining a quality grocery store offering for the people of Poland,” said Morten Møberg Nielsen, VP and Head of Business Development, Salling Group.
Salling Group has an expansive network of stores composed of four major Danish retail firms including the discount supermarket chain Netto, which is expanding in Poland with the acquisition of the Tesco stores, supermarket chain Fotex and hypermarket Bilka, firmly positioning them as Denmark’s largest retailer.
For more information and interview opportunities, please contact Jo Moody via email at [email protected] or call +44 7889 539 602.
About Gordon Brothers
Since 1903, Gordon Brothers (www.gordonbrothers.com) has helped lenders, operating executives, advisors and investors move forward through change. The firm brings a powerful combination of expertise and capital to clients, developing customized solutions on an integrated or standalone basis across four service areas: valuations, dispositions, operations and investments. Whether to fuel growth or facilitate strategic consolidation, Gordon Brothers partners with companies in the retail, commercial and industrial sectors to put assets to their highest and best use. Gordon Brothers conducts more than $70 billion worth of dispositions and appraisals annually. Gordon Brothers is headquartered in Boston, with over 30 offices across five continents.
About Salling Group
At Salling Group, our purpose is to help people improve their everyday lives through more sustainable solutions, the best customer value, opportunities for everyone and donations to society. We are owned by the Danish-based Salling Foundations, and part of our profit is donated to culture, education, sports and community. Since 2012, the foundations have donated more than a billion DKK. Our history began in 1906 with the first Salling store in Aarhus. Today, Salling Group is Denmark’s most diverse retail group, covering household chain brands such as føtex, Bilka, Netto, Salling and Wupti. We operate more than 1,400 stores and web shops in Denmark, Poland and Germany and operate Starbucks and Carl’s Jr. franchises in Denmark. We intervene in the lives of millions of people every single day, and our choices make a difference for customers, colleagues, partners, suppliers and the community among us. That is why we have a great responsibility that we take seriously working every day to improve everyday day life. https://sallinggroup.com/