Fomento Economico Mexicano (FEMSA), owner of the OXXO chain of stores, announced that it acquired almost 98% of the share capital of the European chain Valora, with which OXXO completes its entry into Europe.
By purchasing all the shares of the foodvenience platform Valora, for 260 Swiss francs per share, which is equivalent to 1,100 million Swiss francs or 1,115 million dollars, on July 5, 2022, FEMSA reported that it would expand its business of proximity stores, which operates under the OXXO brand in Europe.
Daniel Alberto Rodríguez Cofré, CEO of FEMSA, declared for Forbes Mexico that the idea is to expand Valora’s strategy together with the management team and its team to ensure that this leading chain in Europe develops convenience stores and food services. They also intend to continue promoting their efforts in innovation and digitization.
OXXO announced that it will initiate the squeeze-out process and will request the cancellation of the titles that are in the hands of the investing public, in order to remove Valora from the list of the SIX Swiss Exchange.
Why did OXXO set its sights on Valora?
The Valora chain has almost 2,700 small-scale points of sale, located in very busy places in countries such as Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. These outlets include K Kiosk, Brezelkönig, BackWerk, Ditsch, Press & Books, Avec, Caffè Spettacolo and the popular own brand ok, as well as a constantly growing range of digital services.
It is also one of the world’s leading producers of pretzels and has a well-integrated value chain in the area of baked goods.
Mario Botas, Director of Corporate Development for FEMSA’s Proximity Division, explained to Forbes Mexico that although they had considered the United States as a neighboring market, they encountered certain challenges, such as the fact that in the North American country the convenience store business is highly linked to gas stations.
Hence, they moved the focus to Valora, a chain in which they found all the criteria they were looking for: very low exposure to fuels, their multi-country status, multi-format, they are relevant in Switzerland and Germany, and they have sales of more than 2 billion Swiss francs, that is, almost 2 thousand two million dollars.
What do you think about the expansion of the OXXO chain in Europe? If you want to put an OXXO in Mexico, we share with you Do you want to put an Oxxo? So you can do it. If you want to know more about the history of this chain of stores, we share with you Who is behind the success of Oxxo? This is the story.
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