General
Selfridges's famous London flagship store may have an exclusive hotel and serviced apartments added to it, the chain's new owners revealed.
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Food
French supermarket chain Auchan may be preparing a new bid for its competitor Carrefour with the backing of some investors, after its intended target rejected a previous takeover attempt three months ago.
Austrian eyewear group MPG has acquired the Belgian optical retail chain GrandOptical and its Dutch counterpart EyeWish. The divestment of 177 stores in total is the result of the takeover deal between GrandVision and EssilorLuxottica.
Fashion
French luxury group LVMH is acquiring Marcolin's 49 % stake in Thélios, thus getting full control of the eyewear group. This deal brings an end to the joint venture that the French and Italians set up in 2017.
A marriage between the French retail groups Auchan and Carrefour does not seem to be completely off the table: the major family shareholders behind both companies continue to hold talks.
Dutch optician chain Hans Anders has now also purchased the Belgian operations of its competitor Eyes + More. Back in 2018, Hans Anders acquired the formula, but the Belgian operations had remained under the ownership of independent franchisees.
Three Dutch coffee chains are joining forces: coffee and lunch formula Doppio Espresso is taking over Chocolate Company Café and Barista Café, intending to expand internationally. Chocolate Company also has a Belgian branch.
Thailand's Central Group, which already owns luxury department stores like Rinascente, KaDeWe and Illum in Europe, has an agreement to acquire British department store chain Selfridges, which has been for sale since the summer.
Dutch online auction house TB Auctions, the market leader in Europe, is taking over the Belgian counterpart Vavato. The transaction takes place partly in cash and partly in shares.
The investment group Apollo Global Management is considering taking over department store chain Marks & Spencer. According to Apollo, the struggling British chain would be a bargain that is currently undervalued.
Unilever has found a buyer for its tea: investor group CVC Capital is acquiring the business for 4.5 billion euros. Brands such as Lipton, Pukka and more will thus change hands.
The owners of Belgian pet care chain Tom&Co are looking to sell (part of) their chain, in order to enable it to grow further internationally.
The Central Group, the Thai owner of the Italian department store Rinascente, is exploring the possibility of taking over Selfridges. The British luxury department store chain has been up for sale since the summer.
The association of store managers of Swedish retailer ICA want to acquire their chain and take it off the stock exchange, tabling a bid of five billion euros.
The Belgian coffee specialist Miko is buying coffee roaster SAS for over 12 million euros. The companies are building an entirely new roasting plant in Turnhout, in the north of Belgium.
The American drinks company is putting 5.6 billion dollars (4.8 billion euros) on the table for sports drink brand BodyArmor, the largest acquisition ever for Coca-Cola.
