Colruyt supermarket takeover: 889 employees threatened with dismissal

A conditional takeover. Belgian retailer Colruyt announced on Monday, June 23, that a maximum of 889 employees were "likely to be made redundant for economic reasons" as part of the sale of its 104 stores in France, including 81 by the Les Mousquetaires/Intermarché retail group, for a total amount of approximately €215 million.

This takeover project "involves the automatic transfer of 1,319 employees," the brand, established in France since 1998, said in a press release on Monday. However, some 24 other stores (one of which is not open) "would not be taken over," Colruyt said, confirming that it is conducting "an active search for additional buyers for the sites not taken over" and that "several expressions of interest [...] have been received."

"In total, this would involve the elimination of 950 jobs," the Belgian group told AFP. Of these, "the maximum number of employees likely to be laid off for economic reasons would be 889," according to the press release. The headquarters, located in Rochefort-sur-Nenon (Jura), is also not part of the takeover plan by the Mousquetaires Group, the third-largest player in the sector in France.

"A job protection plan is being prepared with social partners," added the Belgian brand, which is mainly located in the northeastern quarter of France and which previously employed 2,300 people in the country.

Last April, Colruyt Retail France mentioned "difficult conditions in the highly competitive French food distribution market," stressing that "despite significant efforts to improve the profitability of its French operations, the expected results had not been achieved."