The Run Market brand is about to fall into the hands of the Mauritian group IBL. A rescue welcomed with relief by employees, but the arrival of a foreign actor in large-scale distribution in Reunion raises concerns.
A persistent rumor was confirmed in mid-October : the Mauritian conglomerate IBL has entered into exclusive negotiations with the shareholders of Make Distribution with a view to the takeover of the four hypermarkets under the Run Market brand since 2020. In great difficulty for a year, the company formed on the initiative of Société Adrien Bellier concluded a conciliation agreement with its creditors last June. A “strategic review” had also been launched, with “results expected for the month of November”.
A deadline still too far away, given the urgency of the situation. In September, several avenues had been mentioned for the resumption of the Chaudron hypermarkets, by Duparc, of Saint-André and Savanna. It’s with the IBL group, heavyweight of the Mauritian economy, owner of the Winners chain on the sister island, of Edena and the Lux hotel in Reunion, that SAB has chosen to enter into discussions. Many questions remain unanswered, starting with the legal outcome of the case. To what extent will social and tax debts be erased ? What will be the content of the restructuring that will be implemented? ? Will the Run Market sign be retained? ? Will the IBL group seek an alliance with a large French group other than Intermarché? ? The quality of the future offering of the four hypermarkets will determine the success or failure of the takeover operation. It must be competitive with that of stores present in their respective catchment area : this is the biggest challenge that the buyer must face.
Distrustful reactions
If the solidity of the Mauritian group reassures Run Market employees, who expressed their preference for the takeover of the stores by IBL, other less favorable voices were raised. Starting with that of Huguette Bello, who reacted sharply to the announcement of the Mauritian candidacy on October 6 during the general assembly of Adir. The regional president maintained her position a week later, after the opening of negotiations between Make Distribution and IBL. “If the Mauritian group IBL was selected for the takeover of Run Market (…), it is quite obvious that the decisions taken would not be made according to the interests of Reunion Island.”, she declared in a press release. Adir, for its part, hopes that the Mauritian side will quickly send signals favorable to maintaining the brand in the historic support systems for local production., which for the moment have survived all the capital movements within the large retail sector in Reunion.
THE CARREFOUR-LECLERC DUOPOLE CONCERNS THE OPMR
The Price Observatory, margins and revenues made public on October 17 the final report from Christophe Girardier's firm Bolonyocte on the state of competition within large-scale food distribution in Reunion. The interim report unveiled in August caused a stir by predicting the inevitable disappearance of Run Market. The final report emphasizes the duopoly that was formed with the rise in power of the Carrefour and Leclerc brands, while highlighting the growing weight of the Bernard Hayot Group in the local economy. According to Christophe Girardier, the first now holds 37% market share, the second 29%. U stores, in third position, come far behind (15 %). Even if these figures are contested by the two main parties involved, the OPMR does, on this basis, a proposal aimed at limiting concentration in mass distribution, and beyond in the Reunion economy. According to the Observatory, only a law “limiting the influence of players to 25% for island Overseas Territories and prohibiting the presence of the same player upstream and downstream of a market” would be likely to stop this spiral..
