{"id":837130,"date":"2025-09-09T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=837130"},"modified":"2025-09-09T09:16:34","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T07:16:34","slug":"spar-pays-r680-million-to-exit-international-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/finance\/837130\/spar-pays-r680-million-to-exit-international-business\/","title":{"rendered":"SPAR pays R680 million to exit international business"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SPAR is selling its Swiss business as part of a massive restructuring that has seen the group exit several markets in Europe, but it is paying close to R700 million upfront to exit the business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

SPAR said that it has entered into a sale and purchase agreement with Tannenwald Holding, in which it will dispose of its entire shareholding in SPAR Switzerland for a total equity value of CHF46.5 million (about R1,025 million).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The retailer will also be entitled to further earn-out payments of up to CHF 30 million (approximately R660 million) due at the end of 2027 based on the actual EBITDA achieved in FY26 and FY27. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tannenwald has also assumed all debt outstanding by SPAR Switzerland to third-party financiers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the sale resulted in a cash outflow of CHF 31 million (R683 million) <\/strong>for the group. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This includes CHF 11.5 million (R253 million) reserved for a settlement with the Swiss Competition Commission.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fine regards findings concerning compensation received from a trading and service cooperative. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although SPAR considered appealing the ruling, it decided to avoid further litigation to pursue the planned timeframe of its Switzerland exit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Transaction will strengthen the group\u2019s balance sheet through a significant reduction of debt levels and will enhance the group\u2019s financial flexibility,\u201d said the group. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFurther, with the completion of the transaction, the group has removed all international cross-border guarantees, i.e. the South African balance sheet now has no remaining guarantees in respect of international subsidiaries.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group said that the transaction will also help free up capacity and capital to focus on strategic growth priorities in the group\u2019s remaining core geographies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SPAR Switzerland\u2019s assets serve  358 stores and owns 11 cash & carry outlets and one distribution centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It operates under several formats, including SPAR, SPAR Express, EUROSPAR, Maxi and TopCC. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u200b\u200bThe sale is not subject to any competition, anti-trust approvals, or other conditions precedent, with the effective date being Monday, 8 September 2025. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Restructuring <\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The sale forms part of the group\u2019s strategic review of its European assets, which began in 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The review is part of a \u201cbroader effort to future-proof the business, streamline operations and optimise returns.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the strategic review, the board resolved that a disposal of its entire stake in SPAR Switzerland would be in the best interests of its shareholders and its long-term strategic priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In its interim results in May 2025, the group classified SPAR Switzerland as an asset \u201cheld for sale\u201d and incurred a R3 billion impairment in the period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group also classified its British business AWG as a discontinued operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These Swiss and British businesses recorded aggregated post-tax losses of R4.4 billion over the period, which included impairments of R4.2 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group had already disposed of SPAR Poland for R185 million, but needed to pay R2.7 billion to recapitalise the business for Polish buyer Specjal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regarding the Polish business, the group said the deal removed a loss-making business from the balance sheet and allowed it to focus on its core business in South Africa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite selling three European businesses, the SPAR group looks set to keep hold of its Irish subsidiary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SPAR is selling its Swiss business, but will see a cash outflow worth close to R700 million as part of the deal. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":837131,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11121],"tags":[9838,23561],"class_list":["post-837130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance","tag-spar","tag-tannenwald-holding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=837130"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837130\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":837152,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837130\/revisions\/837152"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/837131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=837130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=837130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=837130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}