Rewe files to acquire grocer Feneberg with cartel office

Rewe has filed its planned acquisition of Allgäu grocer Feneberg — together with the newly formed LEH Allgäu GmbH — with the Federal Cartel Office (reported on 20 July). Around 3,000 employees are reported; the (paywalled) report did not give exact store or headcount figures in its free portion. Update (3 Aug 2026): The takeover covers 72 stores plus the headquarters in Kempten. The Bundeskartellamt's preliminary review ends in mid-August 2026 — one month after the complete filing of 16 July 2026. Without clearance by then, an in-depth review of up to four months would follow. Update (10 Aug 2026): The Federal Cartel Office did not clear the deal but opened an in-depth (Phase 2) investigation — without that step the merger would have had to be cleared the same week. The in-depth review can take up to four more months. The freely accessible portion of the report mentions 35 Feneberg stores going to Rewe; that diverges from the 72 stores recorded earlier and could not be resolved behind the paywall. Source: Lebensmittelzeitung, 10 Aug 2026.