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France: Watchdog clears Galeries Lafayette’s buy of La Redoute

By  |  January 10, 2018

On Wednesday, January 10, France’s competition authority approved plans by upmarket department store chain Galeries Lafayette to buy online fashion and homeware retailer La Redoute in a deal that will accelerate its digital expansion.

The antitrust clearance means the new group will have combined sales of €4.5 billion (US$5.4 billion), which the group expects to climb to over €5.5 billion (US$6.6 billion) by 2020 with 30% coming from online.

In September 2017, Galeries Lafayette said it would buy an initial 51% stake in La Redoute, and would aim to own 100% in the future, in a deal that would deliver cost-savings and boost its digital businesses, to better compete with online retail giants such as Amazon.

“The review by the Competition Authority ruled out any competition issue resulting from the operation,” the statement said.

Full Content: Les Echos

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