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The planned takeover of 36 Tegut stores by the smaller grocery retailer “Tante Enso” is free from antitrust law.
Fulda/Bonn – The Federal Cartel Office has Acquisition of the Tegut locations by Tante Enso Süd-West GmbH & Co. KG approved without conditions on June 11th. In its justification, the authority points to “Aunt Enso’s” low market position to date and the strengthening of competition in the food retail sector.
Cartel Office agrees: “Aunt Enso” takes over Tegut branches
As Andreas Mundt, President of the Federal Cartel Office, emphasizes, “Aunt Enso” is currently active primarily in rural regions and only plays a subordinate role compared to the large trading groups. “Neither the size of the project nor the market position of the buyer gave rise to competition concerns,” said Mundt. The takeover strengthens a smaller competitor in a market that is characterized by a few large corporate groups and at the same time can secure local supplies in the affected regions.
According to the Federal Cartel Office, the “Aunt Enso” group currently operates almost 90 mostly small-scale food markets in rural areas. These work in a hybrid concept: employees are on site during part of the opening hours; outside of these times, customers can use the stores independently as smart stores. Access is via a customer card and purchases are made via self-service checkouts. The group's sales revenue in 2025 amounted to around 40 million euros.
Video: Tegut supermarket chain disappears from the market
The 36 Tegut locations that have now been taken over will generate a combined turnover of around 60 million euros in 2025. According to the authority, this corresponds to around five percent of Tegut's total sales. The branches are mainly located in rural regions in Hesse, Thuringia and northern Bavaria. In the In the Fulda district, “Tante Enso” will take over the branches in Petersberg-Steinau, Poppenhausen and Hünfeld-Mackenzell, among others. Shortly after the announcement by the cartel office “Aunt Enso” a list of locations published.
In its competition review, the Federal Cartel Office came to the conclusion that, under the circumstances, the project would not lead to a significant impediment to effective competition. The main reason for this was the only minor overlap between the previous branch network of “Aunt Enso” and the locations that were now to be taken over.
Tegut has been part of the Migros Zurich Cooperative (GMZ) since 2013. Migros announced in March 2026 that it would completely withdraw from the German market and completely sell the Tegut Group. The sale of the 36 locations to “Aunt Enso” is part of this withdrawal.
Takeover by Edeka and Rewe is being further examined
In the so-called As part of the main investigation, the Cartel Office is currently continuing to deal with the takeover of a larger branch package and other parts of the company by companies in the Edeka group. The acquisition of a further branch package by the Rewe Group is also being examined. The Federal Cartel Office is examining the effects of these projects on both the food retail sales markets and the procurement markets and, according to its own information, is also questioning suppliers of various product groups.
