Family retail business has no heir

MILAN: The founder and owner of Italian supermarket chain Esselunga has admitted he will eventually be forced to sell because he has no heirs interested in running the family business. However, Bernardo Caprotti, 81, said it "would be difficult to find the right buyer", stating that Wal-Mart or Tesco would "absolutely not" be suitable to take over the Milan-based business he had controlled since 1965. "There are probably only three or four retailers in the world that could be considered suitable," said Caprotti. Although he declined to identify them, it has been reported in the German press that Rewe might be one of the four. Esselunga is Italy's fifth-largest chain with 128 stores.