Giant Australian retailer Coles Myer has been given approval for a multi-million dollar takeover of 49 Theo’s liquor stores in New South Wales, mainly in the Sydney metropolitan area.
The Australian Consumer and Competition Commission approved the deal after four months of inquiry. The purchase is the latest in a progressive series of acquisitions by the nation’s two biggest retailers – Coles Myer and Woolworths – concentrating ownership of liquor retailing across Australia. With Theo’s, Coles Myer will have about 230 stores in NSW – Australia’s most populous state – compared with Woolworths 220.
