Brussels , 2016-Jun-28 — /EPR Retail News/ — Delhaize announces today the sale of its retail formula Tom&Co, the pet specialist shop for pet feed and pet care. An investment group led by Lionel Desclée, current member of the management of Delhaize Belgium, will take over Tom&Co. He will leave Delhaize. The brand Tom&Co will continue to exist. Nothing changes for the employees and the existing network of Tom&Co stores in Belgium, Luxembourg and France.
This morning Delhaize has internally communicated its decision to sell the pet specialist shop. Delhaize has the ambition to become the favorite supermarket of the Belgians again and wishes to focus more than ever on the sale of healthy and high quality food. The management and further development of a pet specialist shop is therefore no longer considered a priority. Nevertheless Tom&Co remains an ambitious and financially sound business with a lot of potential.
The buyer of Tom&Co is PetSerCo, an investment group of which Lionel Desclée is the principal shareholder. He is the current Senior Vice president of Delhaize Belgium and responsible for the independent stores and retail activities. Lionel has the ultimate responsibility for Tom&Co within the management of Delhaize and, in the past, was a member of the operational management of Tom&Co himself. With this acquisition PetSerCo acquires 100 % of the shares in Tom&Co. Following this transaction, Lionel Desclée will leave Delhaize. The acquisition takes effect as of the third quarter of this year.
Tom&Co was founded in 1991 and was since part of the store network of Delhaize Belgium and Luxembourg. Today the chain counts 144 stores in Belgium, Luxembourg and France of which 136 franchised stores and 8 own stores. Tom&Co is specialised in pets, pet care and feed. Aniserco nv* currently employs 58 people : 38 people at the headquarter of Tom&Co in Zellik and its 5 own stores in Belgium, 20 people in its stores in France under the company Serdelco sa**. There will be no consequences for the store network and the associates of Tom&Co. All existing employment agreements will be respected.
On Lionel Desclée’s departure, his responsibilities within the management committee of Delhaize Belgium will be shared by 2 people: Françoise Burlet and Kris Van Strydonck who consequently also becomes a member of the management committee of Delhaize Belgium as Senior Vice President.
Delhaize Belgium Early March 2016 the network of Delhaize Belgium & Luxembourg counted over 880 stores in different formula (supermarkets Delhaize, AD Delhaize, Proxy Delhaize, Shop&Go, Tom&Co and Red Market) offering a unique shopping experience and high quality service. Delhaize offers a wide assortment of over 20,000 high quality products at affordable prices. Thanks to its 6 own labels (365, Delhaize, taste of Inspirations, Bio, Eco, Care) Delhaize can match all of its customers’ needs. Its customers can also shop online through www.delhaize.be and www.delhaizewineworld.com for wine, or have these delivered at home by Caddy Home. Delhaize Belgium, which generated a turnover of EUR 5.0 billion in 2015 and had a market share of 24.0%* in Belgium, counts over 14,000 associates. Delhaize Belgium is part of Delhaize Group, which is active in 7 countries and on 3 continents, and employs approximately 150,000 people. At the end of September 2015 the network of Delhaize Group counted 3,465 stores.
Press information:
Roel Dekelver
External Communications Manager Delhaize Belgium
Tel.: +32 (0)2 412 84 51
E-mail : rdekelver@delhaize.be
*Aniserco is the legal entity holding the activities of Tom&Co in Belgium
**Serdelco is the legal entity holding the activities of Tom&Co in France
Source: AC Nielsen