Family behind Jumbo supermarket chain acquires department store HEMA
HEMA will become fully owned by Mississippi Ventures, the investment vehicle of the Van Eerd family, who also own the supermarket chain Jumbo. The investment company already held a 50 percent stake in the department store chain and is now buying the remaining 50 percent from the Dutch investor Parcom, the two shareholders announced on Tuesday, AD reported.
Jumbo and HEMA will continue to operate independently. According to the shareholders, the acquisition will allow the two chains to strengthen each other further.
They did not disclose a purchase price. In 2021, when Parcom and the Van Eerd family jointly purchased the then-troubled retail chain, they paid a joint €440 million. HEMA has grown in terms of revenue, volume, and profit in the years since. In 2020, HEMA suffered a loss of almost €200 million. Last year, the chain’s operating profit was €93 million.
HEMA’s 17,000 employees will keep their jobs. They were informed about the buyout on Tuesday morning. The acquisition still needs to be approved by the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM). HEMA’s work council also still gets a say.
According to HEMA CEO Saskia Egas Reparaz, the acquisition is an important milestone. “Jumbo and HEMA are two brands that play a role in customers’ everyday lives. We have seen how valuable this is in recent years. We look forward to the next phase of our collaboration.”
HEMA is larger than Jumbo. Jumbo posted a profit of €28 million in 2024 and has over 725 supermarkets. HEMA has approximately 800 locations in nine countries, including 540 in the Netherlands.
