The antimonopoly office (ÚOHS) has approved Ahold’s acquisition of Spar’s hyper- and supermarket chain in the Czech Republic. Ahold plans to fold Spar stores into its Albert network. However, Ahold will have to give up some Spar locations in cities where its market share would exceed 40 percent after the merger is complete. ÚOHS said this will impact four cities in the Czech Republic. No other details were provided and Ahold declined to comment on the matter. Ahold will also consider offloading some of the Spar supermarkets that are too close to existing Albert locations.
