Agora is a Bangladeshi retail superstore that operates a

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hypermarket A hypermarket or superstore is a big-box store combining a supermarket and a department store. The result is an expansive retail facility carrying a wide range of products under one roof, including full grocery lines and general merchandise. In ...

discount department store Discount stores offer a retail format in which products are sold at prices that are in principle lower than an actual or supposed "full retail price". Discounters rely on bulk purchasing and efficient distribution to keep down costs. Types (Unit ...

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grocery store A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop or grocer's shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a retail store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday US usage, however, "grocery store" is a synon ...

s. Headquartered in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

, Bangladesh, the company was founded by Rahimafrooz Superstores Ltd. in 2001, and it was the pioneer and largest retail-superstore in Bangladesh.

History

Agora was founded in Dhaka in 2001 by Rahimafrooz Superstores Ltd of Rahimafrooz group. In 2006 Agora was fined 100 thousand taka by Mobile court over food safety. By 2008, it had 4 superstore retain branches in Dhaka. The store uses 50 thousand rural farmers and traders to supply itself. In 2011, the store opened its first branch in Chittagong. The same Agora acquired rival brand PQS in Dhaka. By 2012, Agora had 10 branches in Bangladesh. The Agora branch in Mohammadpur was fined in 2013 and again in 2014 for selling stale vegetables. In 2015, Agora won the best retail brand award by Bangladesh Brand Forum. On 15 May 2016, Agro and other superstores closed their stores in protest overfine issued by Bangladesh Food Safety Authority for selling date expired food on 12 May 2016. The Shantinagar branch manager Monirul Islam of Agora was sentenced to 2 years imprisonment by the mobile court of Bangladesh Food Safety Authority.

Acquisition of Softlogic Holdings

Sri Lankan conglomerate Softlogic's retail holdings wing entered into an agreement on 4 March 2022 to fully acquire Agora, according to public disclosure by the Lankan conglomerate. The acquisition of a 100% stake in the company via a series of transactions would be subject to terms and conditions set out therein and receipt of regulatory approvals, Softlogic Holding PLC said in its regulatory filing in

Colombo Stock Exchange The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) (; ) is the main stock exchange in Sri Lanka that utilizes an electronic trading platform. The CSE headquarters have been located at the World Trade Center (Colombo) Towers in Colombo since 1995, and it has regi ...

. Neither Softlogic nor Agora owners disclosed the deal value. Investment banking sources, however, estimate that the amount might be something between Tk181 and Tk249 crore, citing previous events. On January 2020, talks are being held to sell Agora to Gemcon group. Which will be named & operated as Meena Bazar in the future.

References

External links

* Retail companies based in Dhaka Retail companies of Bangladesh Bangladeshi companies established in 2001 Retail companies established in 2001 {{Bangladesh-org-stub