Pepco Group To Acquire 29 Store Leases In Austria

Pepco Group, the fast-growing pan-European variety discount retailer and owner of the PEPCO and Dealz brands in Europe and Poundland in the UK, has today [16th June] announced the signature of a framework agreement between Pepco Poland (“PEPCO”) and CCC Austria for the acquisition of up to 29 store leases in Austria.

Following the announcement in April that PEPCO was making preparations for launch in Austria, the framework agreement provides the PEPCO brand with an immediate nationwide footprint of stores in proven locations which fit the PEPCO store model across Austria. Subject to the fulfilment of the following conditions the assignments are expected to be completed by the end of September 2021, allowing the stores to trade throughout the important fourth calendar quarter;

• completion of the legal and operational due diligence process of lease agreements; 
• obtaining the required corporate approvals for the assignment of all or selected lease agreements and;
• obtaining consents of landlords to CCC Austria.

Austria would represent the 17th territory for the Group and the 15th for the PEPCO brand, following the successful recent openings and customer reception of PEPCO in both Italy and Spain being the brands initial western European markets. The planned entry into Austria is a further indication of the Group’s pan-European ambitions and follows substantial customer and market research which provided confidence on the success of the proposition beyond its core markets of Central Europe where PEPCO has over 2,200 stores in 14 countries.

The overall Group, including the Poundland and Dealz brands, currently trades in 16 countries across Europe operating more than 3,200 stores in total.

Andy Bond, Pepco Group CEO, said: “Following PEPCO’s successful launch in both Italy and Spain, the signing of this agreement is a further statement of our confidence in the compelling proposition that we believe PEPCO brings to customers across the entirety of Europe. 

“We are confident that the combination of market leading prices, product quality and choice that PEPCO is famous for combined with the high quality stores we are acquiring will prove a winning combination to our new customers in Austria, as a key part of our ambitious plans to become Europe’s pre-eminent discount variety retailer.”

Source : Pepco Group

Image : Grand Warszawski - Shutterstock.com (1181271973)

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