Auchan wants to move all its supermarkets in France under the Intermarché or Netto brands, while keeping its hypermarkets

The project, “subject to prior authorization from the competent competition authority”, could “take effect at the end of 2026”, Auchan said.

In dire straits for several years, distributor Auchan announced on Tuesday 25 November that it wanted to operate around 300 French supermarkets (excluding Corsica) as franchises under the Intermarché and Netto banners, thus proceeding with its merger with the Mousquetaires group. However, the brand will continue to operate in its 117 hypermarkets.

Project, “subject to prior authorization from the competent competition authority”, Can “effective at the end of 2026”, Auchan, owned by the Mulliez family, said in a press release. Concretely, Auchan Retail, the group’s distribution arm, plans to create a “special legal entity” to continue operating the rebranded stores, through a franchise contract concluded with Intermarché, he added. “The business assets and real estate remain the property of Auchan, the employees remain Auchan employees, and we will work under the Intermarché brand, which will deliver the goods, commercial policy, store concept and which will supply the stores”explains Guillaume Darrasse, general manager of Auchan Retail.

“It is something that will strengthen us”, with supermarkets that will benefit “From the beginning, all factors of the competitiveness of the Intermarché brand, including the ability to offer consumers efficient prices, have been important in an increasingly competitive market”confirmed the boss of the fifth largest food distributor in France in terms of market share.

“It’s a win-win,” exclaimed the boss of Les Mousquetaires/Intermarché, the third French distributor, Thierry Cotillard, who claimed the status “leader in supermarket formats in France”. Auchan will benefit from it “our knowledge”and this “will allow us to expand our influence on the French market”, he added. In two years, Intermarché has carried out two major takeover operations: almost 300 Casino stores between 2023 and 2024, and 81 Colruyt stores in mid-June.

Meanwhile, Auchan, which is betting on 2024 taking over nearly a hundred Casino stores, has just sold 19 stores to Lidl, nine of which include supermarkets taken over from the Saint-Etienne brand. The group announced a social plan for the end of 2024 that included nearly 2,400 layoffs, but the plan was scrapped in September by Lille’s administrative court, a decision the distributor appealed.