Minipreço is a

discount supermarket 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 ...

chain in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, part of Auchan Portugal. Minipreço is one of the largest grocery chains in Portugal by store count, with 443 outlets in the country, second to

Pingo Doce Pingo Doce (Sweet Drop in English) is one of the largest supermarket operators in Portugal, with 482 stores as of 2023 (just behind Continente which is the largest food retailer in the country). It belongs to the Portuguese company Jerónimo M ...

, which had 470 stores. The company is seventh in the country in terms of market share, having been eclipsed by Spanish chain

Mercadona Mercadona (, ) is a Spanish supermarket chain, with 1,618 stores across Spain and 61 in Portugal (as of 04/2025). The company was founded by Francisco Roig Ballester and his wife, Trinidad Alfonso Mocholi in 1977. Mercadona began as a small but ...

in 2022. The company operates its flagship Minipreço brand, Minipreço Family, which are larger suburban stores, and Minipreço Express, which are smaller stores in urban locations. The company opened its first stores in 1979. It was formerly known as ''Companhia Nacional de Descontos''. Minipreço was first owned by

Companhia Portuguesa de Hipermercados Auchan Retail Portugal, S.A.', formerly known as Companhia Portuguesa de Hipermercados, S.A., doing businesses as Auchan, was born in 1970 with the opening of the first supermarket Pão de Açúcar in Lisbon, in 1973, the first hypermarket Jumbo w ...

(now known as Auchan Retail Portugal) but later sold to Distribuidora Internacional de Alimentación, S.A. (DIA) of

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

in 1998. In July 2011, Carrefour spun off Dia, listing the company on the Madrid stock exchange. In 2023, DIA hired

Société Générale Société Générale S.A. (), colloquially known in English-speaking countries as SocGen (), is a French multinational universal bank and financial services company founded in 1864. It is registered in downtown Paris and headquartered nearby i ...

to advise it on a possible sale of Minipreço. Portugal was one of the slowest growing markets in the DIA portfolio, with an increase in sales of only 0.5% in 2022 to 596 million euros. In 2022, DIA closed 25 stores in Portugal, about 7% of the footprint. Dia reached an agreement with Auchan Portugal to acquire its Minipreço and MaisPerto brands plus three warehouses for €155 million. The sale marks Dia’s departure from the Portuguese market. Auchan added to its existing chain of 124 establishments in the country including hypermarkets, mini markets and gas station.

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1979 establishments in Portugal 1998 mergers and acquisitions 2024 mergers and acquisitions Auchan Discount stores Supermarkets of Portugal {{supermarket-stub

See also

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