Aldi fusion: Is there a reunification of the Albrecht discounter?

At the top of the discounter giant Aldi has been no Albrecht for almost two years. Theo Junior was the last member of the founding family who was still operational. But in October 2023 he left the board of directors. Aldi Nord had started to rebuild the company months before-an urgently needed step, because the discounter group is considered dusty and backward. But now there is perhaps the biggest change in the company’s history: the merger with the sister company Aldi Süd.

the owner families of the two discounters lead secret fusion talks. The sheet relies on family insiders. The owners are the Heister family who stops Aldi Süd about foundations, as well as two strands of the Albrecht family Albrecht, who-also through foundations-belongs to Aldi Nord.

How exactly the food giants want or will want to merge are apparently still being developed. According to the “Wirtschaftswoche”, several scenarios are on the table: We are talking about a merger of the two companies under the roof of a joint holding, the shares of which would be distributed equally on the foundations of the different family strands.

Originally, the families are said to have wanted to do a “reunification” of the two Aldis by the end of the year, report people who are close to families. However, there is not much time left for this, it is hardly possible to fulfill this project by the end of December, according to family circles. Officially, neither from Aldi Nord nor Aldi Süd can be heard about the plans, corresponding inquiries remained unanswered, according to the “Wirtschaftswoche”.

Trading experts have long expected that the two Aldis would join together or at least plan it. The reduction of double structures alone would save enormous costs. One of the first steps is now planned to combine the software and IT.

So far, a merger has failed due to a dispute between two Albrecht strands from the north. The Heisters from the south, however, had made a peace conclusion for the merging, as research by “Wirtschaftswoche” showed.

The dispute of the two northern strands, the family of Theo Albrecht Junior and the descendants of his late brother Berthold Albrecht, it was about control and voice shares in the foundations that the two families Aldi Nord hold. The dispute of the two strands escalated and had to be clarified in court. Since then, at least the balance of power in the foundations has been clarified, it is said.

Aldi’s owner families are notorious for their iron confidentiality. Rarely until never penetrate internals. It is a sensation that possible merger talks become known as now. On the other hand, the economically tense situation of Aldi Nord is known – at least in comparison to the competition from the south and to Lidl, the country’s largest discounter. In France, the company makes losses, and Denmark has even retired completely.

With a total of 4,200 branches and around 11 percent market share, Aldi and south are currently the fourth largest largest food chain in Germany, with the south making almost a quarter more turnover than the north. In third place is Lidl with 3200 branches and 18 percent market share. At the top are Edeka (11,000 branches, 26 percent market share) and Rewe with 3700 branches and 21 percent market share.