Wholesale giant METRO Cash & Carry is closing down its last two remaining stores in Denmark at locations in Aarhus and Glostrup and laying off 300 employees.
According to the company, a deal with Euro Cater, which could have saved the employees' jobs, fell through.
Metro blames the Competition and Consumer Authority for not giving the companies enough time to finish the deal.
Too little too late
However, the authority claims Metro is totally misinforming the public.
"The parties came to us very late in the process, and we told them that it was completely unrealistic to expect a decision before November 27," Agnete Gersing from the Competition and Consumer Authority commented in a statement.
The authority's preliminary investigation showed that a merger would significantly impede effective competition in the market and more research was necessary.
Leaving Denmark altogether
"We are very sorry that the case ended this way. We really hoped we could keep the jobs in Glostrup and Aarhus," the CEO of Metro, Charles Kay, said in a statement.
Metro, which opened its first Danish store in Glostrup in 1971, announced in September it would down its five Danish stores because they were no longer profitable.
It then proceeded to close three stores – Sydhavn in Copenhagen, Kolding and Aalborg – and lay off 400 employees.
