Tesco buys Polish hypermarkets
SUPERMARKETS group Tesco is buying the HIT hypermarkets chain in Poland for about £350m in a move that significantly boosts its turnover there. Tesco made its first move into Poland in 1995, buying the Savia chain, and opened its first hypermarket there in 1998.
It now has 47 Polish stores, including 15 hypermarkets. The HIT purchase adds 13 hypermarkets and brings sales of £337m a year to Tesco's existing Polish turnover of £390m last year. Tesco did not disclose the price for the deal but analysts estimated the chain to be worth about £350m.
The HIT business, which has been bought from HIT Germany, is profitable although no numbers were disclosed. It had net assets of £17m in December last year, including debt of £83m.
Tesco's deputy chairman David Reid said HIT's business complemented Tesco's existing Polish operation and the deal was 'an excellent strategic acquisition'.
Tesco employs 9,000 staff in Poland, only 11 of whom are non-nationals. This is the latest in a series of expansion moves in Eastern Europe. It already has leading market positions in Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
