The SPAR Group has confirmed the sale of its United Kingdom business, Appleby Westward Group (AWG), marking the next stage in the group’s long-planned streamlining of its international portfolio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the retail group, the move marks another important milestone in the simplification of its international portfolio, as it focuses on South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The group has entered into an agreement with A.F. Blakemore & Son (AFB), a well-known family-owned SPAR UK wholesaler with over a century of experience, for the sale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The deal includes the sale of AWG\u2019s company-owned stores, warehouses, and logistics infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Additionally, negotiations are at an advanced stage to sell another 63 AWG stores to third-party operators, it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Notably, while this marks the end of its UK operation, the group said it will retain its Irish interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SPAR South Africa entered the UK market in 2014 when it acquired a majority stake in BWG Group, which in turn owned the Appleby Westward Group. The group took full ownership in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, following significant financial losses and pressures over the past few years, the group has been making a concerted effort to exit most of its international operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The sale of the UK business follows the sales of SPAR Switzerland and SPAR Poland for the group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SPAR sold its Swiss business to Tannenwald Holding, selling its entire shareholding in SPAR Switzerland for a total equity value of CHF 46.5 million (R1 billion).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The sale resulted in a cash outflow of CHF 31 million (R680 million)\u00a0for the group, which included CHF 11.5 million (R250 million) reserved for a settlement with the Swiss Competition Commission.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, Tannenwald has assumed all of SPAR Switzerland\u2019s outstanding debt to third-party financiers, reducing the group\u2019s overall debt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a similar move, the group disposed of SPAR Poland for R185 million, but still needed to inject R2.7 billion to recapitalise the business for buyer Specjal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The deal removed a loss-making business from SPAR\u2019s balance sheet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SPAR Group CEO, Reeza Isaacs, said the move is about “making the business leaner and more effective”, freeing up management capacity and capital for the core Southern African markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis transaction reflects the deliberate actions we are taking to reposition SPAR for long-term sustainability and growth across the network,\u201d Isaacs said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are simplifying the Group, strengthening our balance sheet, and ensuring our leadership focus and capital are directed toward the areas where we can create the greatest value.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Importantly, unlike previous exits, the UK business exit is expected to result in no cash outflow for the group. It was presented as a discontinued operation in its last set of results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The sale is expected to be completed in stages between June and September 2026. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
South African retailer SPAR is closing the chapter on the UK, confirming the sale of its UK business.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":851816,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[9838],"class_list":["post-860678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-spar"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860678","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\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=860678"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860678\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":860684,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860678\/revisions\/860684"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/851816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=860678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=860678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=860678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}