By D. Alexaki
A major “hiccup” has occurred in an agreement to form a joint company by two of Greece’s biggest super market chains, Sklavenitis and Marinopoulos, according to reports emanating from the former, with “legal obstacles” cited.
A draft deal, which was announced several months ago, foresaw the creation of a joint 50-50 company that would assume control and operation of 33 “hyper markets” operated by Marinopoulos. The latter is a mainstay in the domestic retail sector, but is now facing widely reported liquidity problems, accumulated debts to suppliers and a slump in sales.
According to sources from the Sklavenitis side, if the legal obstacles are overcome, the group is willing to proceed with the agreement as is.
One obstacle touches on the fact that Marinopoulos family members or current executives of the company will not be able to participate on the board of directors of the new company. The relevant Competition Committee has reportedly pointed out this fact to both sides.
For the moment, market analysts dismissed other scenarios claiming that Sklavenitis will move more aggressively to merge, buy-out or assume parts of Marinopoulos’ operation.
The latest reports also did not preclude the possibility of Marinopoulos seeking protection from creditors.
