CMS is advising Ahold Delhaize as lead transaction counsel on its agreement to acquire 100% of Tesco’s businesses in Czechia and Slovakia. The transaction, announced on 30 October 2026, has an enterprise value of approximately €1.2bn, rising to approximately €1.7bn when lease obligations are included.
The acquisition will significantly expand Ahold Delhaize’s presence in Central and Southeastern Europe and mark its entry into the Slovak market. Tesco’s Czech and Slovak businesses comprise more than 360 self-operated supermarkets, hypermarkets and convenience stores, as well as more than 100 franchise stores. Together, the businesses generate approximately €3.5bn in sales and employ more than 14,000 people.
Following completion, the transaction will bring Tesco’s Czech operations together with Ahold Delhaize’s existing Albert business. Ahold Delhaize expects the combined businesses, following integration and store portfolio remodelling, to become the leading grocery retail brand in Czechia by market share, while establishing the group as a significant player in Slovakia.
CMS has supported Ahold Delhaize across a wide range of transaction workstreams. The mandate brought together CMS lawyers from several practices and offices across Europe.
Helen Rodwell, Partner and Head of the Corporate and M&A practice at CMS Prague, commented: “We are extremely proud to have supported Ahold Delhaize on this landmark transaction. Its scale and complexity called for a genuinely integrated effort across practices, offices and jurisdictions. What has stood out throughout has been the extraordinary collaboration of a large and diverse team of CMS lawyers, working closely together with the Ahold Delhaize team towards a common goal. It has been a tremendous team effort, and we are very grateful to Ahold Delhaize for the trust they placed in us.”
The CMS transaction team was co-led by CEE Corporate/M&A partner Helen Rodwell and Head of the CMS Corporate/M&A Group, Louise Wallace. Senior members of the wider cross-border team included Lukas Hejduk (Real Estate, CEE/Prague), Aaron Fairhurst (Tax, London), Ben Booker-Moore (Corporate/M&A, London), Frances Gerrard (Corporate/M&A, London), Yavor Danailov (Corporate/M&A, Sofia), Dominika Cichorek (Corporate/M&A, Warsaw), Maciej Olejnik (Finance, Warsaw), Johanna Dodgson (Corporate/M&A, London), Lucia Luptakova (Corporate/M&A, London) and Szabina Marsi (Corporate/M&A, Budapest) supported by lawyers across CMS’s Prague, London, Bratislava, Budapest, Sofia and Warsaw offices.
The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory clearances, and is expected to close in Q4 2027.
