The covid-19 pandemic has benefited buyers and hurt sellers, but that will not deter the Executive from selling these supermarkets. In fact, the purpose of the sale is to overcome the difficulties that have been noted in these two establishments, says Jornal de Negócios.
Kero, owned by generals Helder Vieira Dias 'Kopelipa' and Leopoldino Fragoso do Nascimento 'Dino', came into government hands in October last year. Since then, the state management has been criticized by customers, who complain about the lack of products and practically empty shelves.
The Candando situation is somewhat different. These supermarkets are owned by Contidis, which is owned by businesswoman Isabel dos Santos, and was eventually seized at the end of December 2019. The seizure stirred up the stability of jobs and increased discontent among the population.
According to Jornal de Negócios, one of the reasons that pushed these two companies to the top of the state's privatization list is related to the financial problems that the two chains are facing.
These problems make it difficult to attract new investors for the various areas of activity of these supermarkets. The non-appearance of new investors is an advantage for other companies already operating in the country.
For example, the Noble Group and the Newaco Group (both with connections to India) are showing interest in acquiring the supermarket chains. This interest, creates a certain pressure on the Executive, which may give freedom to conspire about the existence of favoritism. This is because, according to Jornal de Negócios, the Noble Group is one of the main suppliers of the Ministry of Defense.
However, these suspicions can be countered with the creation of criteria that determine the involvement of international entities in the sales process, thus ensuring that the procedure is done in a transparent way.
The supermarkets will be sold separately. For now, it is known that Kero will be privatized by the end of this year, however, the government has not yet decided on the privatization dates for Candando, which may indicate that there is still a possibility that the government and Isabel dos Santos will reach an agreement, writes the same newspaper.
