S.Africa's Pick 'n Pay Plans To Buy Fruit/Veg City

Posted 13 June 2006 @ 11:18 am EET     Print     Reprint     E-Mail     Comments

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African supermarket group Pick 'n Pay Stores, the country's biggest retailer by sales, said on Monday it plans to acquire Fruit & Veg City Holdings.

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An agreement in principle has been reached with the shareholders, a statement said, but no financial details were released.

"An additional announcement will be made to Pick 'n Pay shareholders once the terms of this transaction have been finalised," the statement added.

Fruit & Veg City has 86 outlets throughout southern Africa, including 25 corporate-owned stores and 61 franchise stores, according to its Web site.

It was started in 1993 by two brothers and is 98 percent owned by members of the Coppin family, the Web site added.

In April Pick 'n Pay posted a 17 percent rise in annual headline earnings on a 10 percent rise in turnover to 35.1 billion rand.

Pick 'n Pay's biggest market is South Africa, but it also has operations in Namibia, Botswana, Swaziland, Zimbabwe and Australia.

The firm's shares fell 0.74 percent to 26.80 rand on Monday, while the Top-40 index fell 1.1 percent. The announcement was released after the market closed.