Overview

• The Albrecht and Heister families have held detailed talks for several weeks on merging Aldi Nord and Süd into a unified holding company.
• Initial plans for a year-end 2025 merger have been abandoned in favor of a 2026 target to accommodate extensive negotiations.
• Early integration efforts include proposals to consolidate IT and software operations across both chains.
• Key discussion topics involve structuring joint leadership roles, assigning international market oversight, allocating voting rights.
• The Bundeskartellamt already treats the discounters as connected companies, and neither chain has issued an official comment.