Metcash agreed to acquire Queensland grocery operator Peries Group for an estimated $80 million to $85 million.
The deal secures 15 medium- and large-format IGA supermarkets across regional Queensland. Those stores generated approximately $264 million in retail sales in the 2026 financial year.
Exercising a contractual right of first refusal, Metcash stepped in after Peries Group put the business up for sale. A fixed multiple of earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation under pre-AASB16 accounting rules will determine the final price. That calculation excludes stock, employee entitlements and stamp duty.
Existing debt facilities will fund the purchase. Marginal earnings per share accretion is expected once the transaction closes.
Around 1,000 workers are employed across South-East, Central, Far North and Wide Bay-Burnett districts. Metcash already supplied the network. It booked approximately $150 million in wholesale sales to Peries stores during the 12 months ended 30 June 2026.
Buying Peries prevents rival supermarket operators from peeling away a major independent wholesale customer in Queensland. Regional store networks provide steady wholesale volumes that Metcash cannot afford to lose to corporate chains.
Direct ownership gives the wholesaler options to restructure store holdings down the track. It plans to review the long-term model for the 15 sites, including potential joint ventures or re-sales to independent grocers.
Equity exposure in Queensland retail operations expands alongside Metcash’s existing 45 per cent interest in Cornetts Group, which runs 35 supermarkets across the state. Queensland grocery sales have outpaced most other Australian states over the past three years at retail and wholesale levels.
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