SPAR continues to expand in Croatia - acquiring 62 BILLA stores as well as the BILLA logistics centre in Sv. Helena from Rewe.

The deal on the acquisition was agreed on 15 December 2016; the definite transfer will be after the closing in spring of 2017. The deal still needs to be approved by the antitrust authorities. There will be no disclosure of purchase price which it has been agreed to keep confidential.

Rudolf Staudinger, Director of the Board for SPAR Austria’s international operations, stated at the time of disclosing the acquisition: “We have been operating in Croatia since 2005 and see great potential in this country. We therefore want to expand our market position and look forward to the opportunity to expand and take over the stores.”

With this acquisition, the network of SPAR Croatia will be increased to over 100 stores. Importantly, all 1,900 BILLA employees will be retained by SPAR.

The acquired supermarkets are located throughout Croatia – from Istria to Dalmatia, Slavonia to the capital Zagreb, the sales areas of the stores range from 500m² to 1,500 m². After approval by the antitrust authorities, the stores will be converted to operate under the SPAR Brand.

SPAR Hrvatska d.o.o. is a 100% subsidiary of SPAR Österreichische Warenhandels-AG. In 2015 17 INTERSPAR hypermarkets and 35 SPAR supermarkets generated gross sales of €365 million. At the end of 2015, 2,773 employees worked in SPAR Croatia.