The French group Auchan has completed the merger by absorption with the retailer Real, which it bought in 2013 from the German group Metro. On Tuesday this week, Auchan formally took over the whole assets belonging to Real Hypermarket Romania.

Last year, the French group finished rebranding the 20 Real hypermarkets, following an investment of EUR 40 million. The retailer later took over the plots and galleries of 12 former Real hypermarkets, after a EUR 261 million transaction. Auchan currently owns 70% of its store park.

The French group has now a network of 33 hypermarkets in Romania, with a 276,000 sqm sales area. It is one of the top employers in the country with 11,000 employees. Its total business with tax was over EUR 1 billion in 2014.

editor@romania-insider.com