”The Baltic retail sector is very concentrated, especially in Lithuania and Latvia. In Lithuania Maxima and IKI control 40% and 16% of the market respectively, but in Latvia Rimi and Maxima each control 30-40% of the market. Whereas in Estonia the largest retail chains compete fiercely against each other, where Coop (previously ETK), Maxima, Rimi and Selver control 20%, 18%, 17% and 16% of the market respectively,” the report by Prudentia said.
”In such a competitive environment there is plenty of construction of new stores and logistic centers, new innovative shopping alternatives (food delivery to home, self-service registers) and market consolidation. For example, last year Vita Markets purchased 15 new Elvi chain stores, in 2014 Mego acquired Palink (IKI chain with 51 stores), in 2012 Lithuanian Maxima entered the Spanish market via DinoSol acquisition and in 2011 Maxima purchased Polish Aldik Nova (24 stores).
“Due to the global and Baltic M&A trends, market share concentration and unequal distribution within individual states can be inferred – further consolidation can also be anticipated in the future. Smaller retailers will most likely continue to merge within individual states whereas on a global scale we might be able to see mega-deals such as the merger of Ahold and Delhaize,” the report said.
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