Merks construction company which is a part of Estonian Merko Ehitus group, and Lidl Latvia company in charge of the German discount retail chain Lidl in Latvia, have signed an agreement on construction of a logistics center in Riga, according to a statement submitted to the Nasdaq Riga stock exchange.
The logistics center will cover 47,000 square meters. The contract is for the construction of a logistics center made up of a warehouse and an adjacent administration building, with supporting facilities and infrastructure.
The value of the contract is 42.5 mln euros, plus value added tax.
The construction works will start in September 2018 and they are scheduled to be completed in January 2020.
As reported, Lidl began preparing for entering the Baltic market in 2003 but later changed its mind and sold all land parcels bought in the Baltic countries, explaining that the Baltic market was too small. The company nevertheless made a good profit in Latvia, without even opening a single store, because it sold the properties bought in Latvia at profit. Lidl Latvija total profit in 2006-2008 amounted to LVL 7.2 mln (10.24 mln euros). Part of Lidl properties were acquired by Estonian chain stores A-Selver, which also had to leave Latvia eventually due to the economic crisis.
In the summer of 2017 Lidl again announced its plans to enter Latvia.
Lidl Latvija, originally named MMS Property Solutions, was registered in 2016. The company’s share capital is 20.5 mln euros, its sole owner is CE-Beteiligungs-GmbH, which also owns Lidl Lietuva.
