Tesco sells Czech and Slovak businesses to Ahold Delhaize for €1.7bn

The deal

Tesco has agreed to sell its Czech and Slovak businesses to the Dutch retailer Ahold Delhaize at an enterprise value of €1.7 billion, which Bloomberg puts at £1.5 billion. Tesco announced the agreement on Friday, 30 October, and expects net cash proceeds of €1.2 billion before tax and other transaction costs. The package covers all stores and offices in the two countries, along with distribution centres in Kralupy, Presov and Beckov. Tesco plans to return the majority of those proceeds to shareholders through an incremental share buyback once the deal completes. The sale is expected to close in the second half of 2027.

Enterprise value1.7

Net cash proceeds1.2

Enterprise value

1.7 EUR billion

Net cash proceeds

1.2 EUR billion

Data from the article text

Why Tesco is leaving

The Czech Republic and Slovakia generated combined sales of £2.9 billion in Tesco's previous 52-week financial year and accounted for most of the £115 million in adjusted operating profit reported by its central European division. Across 2025/26 that division's sales reached £4.49 billion, up 3.7% at constant exchange rates, while adjusted operating profit slipped 0.9%. Tesco's European operations are its only business of scale outside the UK and Ireland, following a retreat from overseas expansion after its 2014 accounting scandal. Earlier exits included the loss-making US Fresh & Easy chain from 2012, a South Korean business sold for £4.2 billion in 2015, and Thai and Malaysian operations sold for £8 billion in 2020, deals overseen by previous chief executive Sir Dave Lewis. On Friday, chief executive Ken Murphy said the sale would further simplify the group.

“the transaction will further simplify the group, increasing our focus on our core UK and Irish businesses”

Hungary and the rest of the region

Tesco said it would keep weighing every option for its Hungarian business, where it opened its first store in 1995. Price controls and taxes introduced under former prime minister Viktor Orbán have disproportionately hit foreign-owned retailers. Those controls remain in place under his successor, Péter Magyar, who announced in September that the scheme was under review because of the damage done to Hungarian farmers. Tesco, which left Poland in 2021, still operated 561 stores across Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Murphy welcomed the buyer's plans in comments made on the day.

“We are proud of what has been achieved over the past 30 years. I am delighted that Ahold Delhaize intends to invest in both markets.”

Buyer and rival bids

Ahold Delhaize was formed in 2016 and is headquartered in Zaandam, Netherlands, where its main brands include Albert Heijn and Etos. In the Czech Republic it already owns the Albert chain, which has almost 350 hypermarkets and supermarkets and ranks third by sales behind the German chains Lidl and Kaufland. Slovakia would be a new market for the group, which says the acquisition will strengthen its position in central and southeastern Europe and speed up revenue growth through synergies. Albert spokesman Jiří Mareček also confirmed the deal on Friday, 30 October, and said completion, subject to usual conditions including regulatory approval, is expected in the fourth quarter of 2027. The Financial Times reported at the end of September, citing anonymous sources, that Biedronka and Schwarz Group, owner of Lidl, were also interested. Biedronka had entered Slovakia in March 2025 with 17 stores and a distribution centre and planned to reach 50 stores by the end of 2026.