Aldi Süd, one of the largest discount supermarket chains in Germany, has plans to withdraw its operations from the Greek market. Aldi Süd established around 38 stores in Greece, and 25 stores out of these will be closed by the year end. According to reports published by Imerisia, the local publication, Aldi Süd has already dismissed more than 250 employees and more than 500 employees will dismiss till February next year.

Imerisia also reports that companies like Alfa-Beta Vassilopoulos (Delhaize Group) and Aldi Süd’s industry rivals like Rewe Group and Lidl (Schwarz Group) are interested in buying Aldi Süd’s outlets to expand their operations in the Greek market. The Rewe Group has major plans to debut in the Greek market by tapping this opportunity as the company has absolutely no presence in the Greek markets as of now and is willing to explore the new region.

Aldi Süd, however, has not yet disclosed any negotiation details and its parent company Hofer will make the final announcement regarding the store-selling plans. Aldi’s price expectations are relatively higher-than-expected as the company management has requested large sum (Approx. $163-176 million) for their network buyers. Thus, the potential buyers are waiting for the right time to bid for the Aldi stores.

Imerisia mentions that Aldi has reported better-than-expected sales this year without having their network expanded, significantly.