The acquisition would add six stores in Santiago and expand the retailer into Chile's hard discount segment.
SMU has filed with Chile's antitrust regulator, the Fiscalía Nacional Económica (FNE), seeking approval to acquire the discount chain Ahorra Food Depot. The target chain, linked to the Alvo family, currently operates six stores across the Metropolitan Region of Santiago.
The transaction aims to expand SMU into the hard discount segment in Chile. SMU already operates three brands in the country: Unimarc, Súper 10, and Alvi, and is the only supermarket operator with stores across all 16 regions of Chile. In Peru, the company operates under the MaxiAhorro and Mayorsa banners.
This is a format that we have studied for several years, visiting chains in Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru and analyzing the potential for adaptation to the characteristics of the Chilean market.
General Manager Marcelo Gálvez added that customer testing on assortment, pricing, and shopping experience delivered positive results. SMU noted that acquiring an operating network will allow it to accelerate future openings in a discount market where Cencosud operates Don Salva with 10 stores, alongside Peru's Intercorp with Mass.
Newsletter
Markets in your inbox, weekly
Latin America-focused analysis, investment themes and the week in finance.
