Getting Real

Aneta Cichla, ‘Eurobuild CEE’: It’s been two years since you signed the contract with Metro Group to buy 57 Real hypermarkets in Poland. The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection [UOKiK] obliged the company to sell eight of the acquired locations in Poland. There were negotiations on the sale of the entire package to one buyer. What does the process look like right now? François Colombié, president of the supervisory board of Auchan in Poland and Ukraine: We have to sell the assets by the end of this year. Negotiations are still in progress. There are parties interested in the entire package of eight Real shops as well as offers for individual locations. The process is being supervised by the UOKiK. I think that we will know much more at the end of June or in early July. It’s clear that the buyer will be a hypermarket operator. The transaction is rather complicated because it also involves the funds to which Metro Group earlier sold its re