Grupo Dia has canceled the sale of the Clarel personal care and home stores to the Spanish fund C2 Private Capital for around 60 million euros that it announced in December, the company itself reported on Tuesday. Now he will explore “other strategic options” for his future.
In a note to the CNMV, the market regulator, the chain states that the conditions set for July 31, 2023, the maximum date for compliance, have not been met, therefore “the contract has been automatically terminated.”
The conditions precedent referred to C2 obtaining the authorization for merger control by the European Commission and/or the National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC), which has occurred, and adopting certain measures “for the financial assurance of Clarel merchandise”.
The operation, with a payment of 50 million and the taking of 10 million debt, involved the transfer of 1,015 stores, three distribution centers and other assets. Dia recorded a negative accounting impact of 22.5 million euros.
Dia, immersed for years in the search for greater efficiency and the recovery of profitability, is now “assessing other strategic options for the sale of Clarel.” When announcing the operation at the end of 2022, the company said that it was doing so to focus “on what we know how to do best: local food distribution.”
The company is expected to report first half results this Thursday. Until March, net sales grew by 10%, to 1,781 million euros.
