Ahold to sell health retailer to Holland & Barrett
€16.5m acquisition of De Tuinen chain
December 11 2002
Dutch supermarket operator Ahold is to sell its De Tuinen natural product stores to Holland & Barrett of the UK.
The 65-store Netherlands chain is being acquired by Holland & Barrett Europe, a subsidiary of US company NBTY, for €16.5m.
De Tuinen which has annual sales of approximately €30m, has been owned by Ahold since 1991. The stores sell over-the-counter drugs, dietary supplements, gift items and natural beauty care products.
Holland & Barrett, which specialise in dietary supplements and health foods. has approximately 1,000 stores in the US, UK and Ireland.
The sale of De Tuinen fits within Ahold’s recently announced strategy of focusing on its core businesses. De Tuinen will will continue to operate under the same brand name with the same product range. De Tuinen’s 350 employees are being retained by Holland & Barrett.
