This marks a major step forward in the attractive Romanian grocery market and contributes to the enhancement of consumer choice

Zaandam, the Netherlands, October 30, 2023 – Ahold Delhaize is pleased to announce that it has agreed to acquire 100% of Romanian grocery retailer Profi Rom Food SRL (Profi) from MidEuropa, subject to approval from the regulatory authorities. This acquisition provides a strong format fit and complementary customer proposition to Ahold Delhaize’s great local brand Mega Image in the Romanian market. Romania is an attractive market experiencing continued growth in public wealth and spending power, driven by strong economic fundamentals.

Strategic Rationale

Profi is a leading traditional grocery retailer in Romania, operating 1,654 stores in the country. It is known for its strong assortment and value for customers. In the twelve months ending June 2023, the company generated €2.5 billion in sales.

The acquisition will more than double the size of Ahold Delhaize’s existing Romanian business, which operates under the Mega Image brand and has 969 stores, predominantly in urban areas. The combination will complement and expand Ahold Delhaize’s existing Romanian footprint to better serve both urban and rural areas. The strong format fit and complementary customer propositions between the Profi and Mega Image brands, will allow them to better serve the Romanian consumer, driving both sales growth and profitability.

Transaction details

Ahold Delhaize expects to generate significant revenue growth and synergies from the transaction. These expected synergies will directly benefit the Romanian customers, through the improved ability for the company to reinvest in the customer value proposition, digitalization, ESG and the Employer Value Proposition.
Ahold Delhaize will pay an Enterprise Value of approximately €1.3 billion, corresponding to lease-adjusted Enterprise Value of €1.8 billion (post IFRS 16).
The combination with Profi is expected to be sales growth and EBIT margin accretive (post synergies, and integration) to Ahold Delhaize Europe and EPS accretive to Ahold Delhaize, all in the first year after closing.
The acquisition consideration will be 100% debt funded, with the transaction expected to close in 2024 following the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including regulatory clearance.

Frans Muller, Ahold Delhaize’s Chief Executive Officer, said: "I am very excited to welcome Profi into the Ahold Delhaize family. We have followed the company’s trajectory for a while now and admire what the Profi team has been able to achieve. I strongly believe that Profi has an exciting growth pathway ahead, and look forward to partnering with the team to further solidify our presence in Central and Southern Europe."

Wouter Kolk, Chief Executive Officer of Ahold Delhaize Europe & Indonesia, said:
"I’d like to extend a very warm welcome to the full Profi team, we are very pleased to include them in our family. This step forwards fortifies our position in Central and Southern Europe, it also underscores our trust in the potential of the region. Both Mega Image and Profi have been serving Romanian customers successfully in the past decades, which translated into increased loyalty and growth. By joining our family, the combination will benefit from our European best practices in the fields of digitalization, sourcing, extended local assortment, infrastructure and sustainability. I am excited for the journey ahead."

Next Steps

The transaction is subject to conditions including merger clearance under applicable competition laws and regulations. Closing is expected for 2024.

The transaction will have no meaningful impact on ongoing capital allocation and capital return policies, nor limit balance sheet capacity to pursue further acquisition opportunities.

More details will be provided during the Q3 2023 Ahold Delhaize analyst conference call.

BofA Securities and Goldman Sachs acted as financial advisors to Ahold Delhaize; CMS and GNP Guia Naghi & Partners acted as legal advisors

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