France’s competition authority has approved a deal allowing 167 Auchan supermarkets and hypermarkets to switch to Intermarché or Netto banners under a joint venture controlled by Intermarché and Auchan.
The Autorité de la concurrence said that after a referral from the European Commission (EC) it found the transaction was “unlikely to harm competition in the markets concerned, whether in the supply of everyday consumer goods in France or in the local retail distribution of food products”.
ITM Entreprises, which operates Intermarché and Netto sister supermarket chains, is controlled by French retail cooperative Les Mousquetaires.
Auchan runs hypermarkets, supermarkets, convenience stores and online grocery services in France.
Under the plan, stores currently operating under the Auchan banner will be run by the new joint venture and rebranded as Intermarché or Netto.
The transaction is part of a broader partnership between the two retailers launched in 2024 and expanded in late 2025 as Auchan pursued a franchise-led restructuring of its supermarket business in France.
The authority said the main issues reviewed were the impact of the banner change and the risk that the deal could lead to coordination between the two retailers on prices or service quality.
On sourcing, the regulator noted that the 167 stores already obtained 50% of their supplies through AURA, the Intermarché-Auchan purchasing alliance.
Based on information from both groups, it said the deal would not create or strengthen suppliers’ economic dependence on Intermarché’s purchasing operations.
In local food retail, the authority said the rebranding did not raise competition concerns because Intermarché and Netto’s combined market shares remained below 50% in every area examined.
The regulator said: "Consumers will continue to benefit from competition between several national banners."
The Autorité also dismissed concerns that the transaction would facilitate coordination between the two groups.
It cited their limited market power nationally and “several credible alternatives for suppliers,” as well as structural differences between Auchan’s centrally managed network and Intermarché’s model of commercially autonomous independent retailers.
Auchan had presented the project in November 2025 as “an innovative cooperation model” designed to improve operational performance and strengthen French consumers’ purchasing power.
The company said at the time that operating supermarkets under the Intermarché and Netto banners would combine “purchasing power, complementary formats and operational performance to benefit consumers’ purchasing power”.
