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The Federal Cartel Office has approved the conditional takeover of 178 Tegut locations by Edeka.The four major retail chains already control over 90 percent of German food retail.
The takeover of 178 Tegut supermarkets by Edeka is causing concerns at the Monopolies Commission. It is painful for competition that another dealer disappears from the market, said the President of the Monopolies Commission, Tomaso Duso. He warned against excessive market concentration.
With the takeover, the four large grocery chains Edeka, Rewe, the Schwarz Group with Lidl and Kaufland as well as Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd would dominate the food retail sector even more. The four major retail chains in Germany already account for more than 90 percent of the local food retail sales, according to the independent advisory committee.
“The authorities will then have to pay even more attention to ensuring that the big four do not drive up prices or prevent innovation,” said Duso. This would lead to disadvantages for consumers.
The Federal Cartel Office recently approved the takeover of numerous Tegut locations by Edeka. However, Edeka had to scale down its plans somewhat: the food retailer is initially only allowed to take over 178 Tegut stores. That's 24 fewer than planned.
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