Tesco are to close up shop in Ireland as Lidl announce that they will be buying-out the supermarket giant’s stores across the 26 counties. The news comes after a turbulent few weeks for Tesco with the company announcing significant reduction in profits and uncertainty due to a major accounting error.
Tesco shares have nose-dived since it admitted it had overstated profits by £263 million (€337 million). The full facts will not emerge for some time, with British fraud investigations typically taking years to complete. In the mean time, the company said it can no longer continue operations in the Republic and that they need to scale back trading until they come up with a stratedgy to combat the recent series of troubles.
In light of Tesco’s troubles, Managing Director of Lidl Ireland Kenneth McGrath, announced this morning that Lidl Ireland plan to buyout Tesco’s operations in Ireland in an attempt to become the leading traders in the country. The move has been described as “bold” by some industry analysts and by consumers.
McGrath said in press conference this morning, “This is an exciting new time for the company. It is the culmination of years of hard work and it is finally paying off as we look to the future. We are already strategising about how we are going to brand the Tesco stores, the slogan ‘Every Lidl helps’ has already been a winner with our marketing department.”
“We hope to have the deal finalised by the end of this month and we will begin the turnover in the New Year.”
Oxygen.ie will keep you updated when more information becomes available.