Yahoo Finance Kaufland to exit Australian market
European supermarket giant Kaufland has revealed it intends on pulling out of the Australian market.
Kaufland was set to open 14 stores in Victoria alone, and purchased three sites for new stores in Queensland and a number of blocks of land in South Australia.
The company, which has 200 employees in Australia announced it would undertake an “orderly withdrawal” from the Australian market.
Kaufland’s investment was reportedly worth $435 million and was expected to create over 1,500 jobs.
German supermarket giant @kaufland will "exit" Australia. This was Vic govt in August: "Kaufland’s investment in Victoria is worth $435 million and expected to create 1,500 jobs. If the nine stores are approved, the investment will top half a billion and create up to 2,400 jobs."
— Andrew Lund (@andrew_lund) January 22, 2020
“This was not an easy decision for us,” Frank Schumann, the acting CEO of Kaufland International said.
“We always felt welcome in Australia. We would like to thank our employees and we apologise for the disruption this decision will cause.”
The company said it would turn its focus to its business in “European core markets in the foreseeable future”.
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