Auchan to Sell 19 French Supermarkets to Lidl

Auchan to sell 19 French supermarkets to Lidl

(Reuters) -French supermarket group Auchan will sell 19 stores in its home market to Germany's Lidl as it seeks to improve its financial position and avoid further job cuts, the two businesses said on Wednesday.

Battered by a decline in customer traffic for over ten years, Auchan said last November that it would cut over 2,000 jobs in France and in May announced the closure of 25 stores and over 700 job cuts in Spain.

The companies did not disclose financial details of the transaction.

Auchan, which operates large supermarkets in France and elsewhere, is shifting to smaller stores and online sales as the rise of e-commerce pushes people to buy groceries and bigger-ticket items such as home appliances online.

The companies are in exclusive negotiations over the sale of ten supermarkets from Auchan's historic park and nine which the French group bought from Casino in 2024, they said in the statement.

Completion of the sale, subject to antitrust clearance, is expected by year end, the companies said.

(Reporting by Alessandro Parodi, editing by Matt Scuffham)