Real politik

The prospect of the acquisition of German hypermarket chain Real rekindled the imaginations of market observers long before the signing of the preliminary agreement. This is not surprising as the investment came to more than EUR 1 bln – quite a substantial amount even for Western Europe. In November 2012, following about half a year of market gossip, the French behemoth decided to swallow the struggling German colossus (Real’s cumulative net loss exceeded EUR 300 mln at the end of 2013). The French put EUR 1.1 bln on the table. Vianney Mulliez, the president of the administrative board of the Auchan group, said at the time: “Through the acquisition of 91 stores and 13 high quality shopping centres, Auchan is evening out its presence in Central and Eastern Europe with other priority development areas, such as Western Europe and Asia.” Waiting for offices However, this was only the beginning of the take-over of Real. The most