Tesco agrees to sell Czech and Slovak businesses at €1.7 bln enterprise value

The sale leaves Hungary as the last piece of Tesco's Central European arm, which made about 4% of group profit in the latest year.

Tesco is selling its Czech and Slovak businesses at an enterprise value of €1.7 bln, a figure that includes debt, and so takes another step towards being a grocer of the UK and Ireland alone.

The Central European arm is small beside the group. Across the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary it had sales of £4.49bn and adjusted operating profit of £115m in 2025/26, around 4% of group profit, according to Property Forum, citing FT and Reuters reports.

The Czech unit has only recently returned to health. Tesco Stores ČR made a profit of CZK 387 million in fiscal 2026 after a loss the year before, with revenue up 0.4 percent to about CZK 44.5 billion, Expats.cz reported.

Hungary is not part of this deal. The Financial Times, as relayed by Retail Insight Network, said the Czech and Slovak assets were marketed separately from the Hungarian business, with Goldman Sachs and Citi advising. That leaves Tesco's only sizeable operation outside the UK and Ireland with an unresolved future. The group has left a market before: its US venture Fresh & Easy closed in 2013 after losses.

The buyer is the next question. The Financial Times reported before the sale that Schwarz Group, owner of Lidl and Kaufland, was expected to bid, with Ahold Delhaize's Albert and Jerónimo Martins' Biedronka also linked to the process. Expats.cz, summarising the FT, said any acquirer would face competition scrutiny, and that Tesco stores would trade as normal until approval is granted.