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Private company

Continente

Logo: Sonae, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons3

Portuguese hypermarket chain

Continente is a retail chain that belongs to Sonae Distribuição, the largest retailer in Portugal. The hypermarket Continente chain is spread all over continental Portugal as well as on Madeira and in the Azores. The supermarket chain Continente Modelo, formerly named just Modelo, also has a nationwide presence.2 It is part of Sonae MC.1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1985Founded1

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Continente is a retail chain that belongs to Sonae Distribuição, the largest retailer in Portugal. The hypermarket Continente chain is spread all over continental Portugal as well as on Madeira and in the Azores. The supermarket chain Continente Modelo, formerly named just Modelo, also has a nationwide presence. Sonae Distribuição, SGPS, SA, is a subsidiary company of Sonae SGPS.2

Corporate structure

Continente is part of a group headed by Sonae. 27 entities, 3 countries on record. Switch between the flow chart and the network, and select any entity to see its details.

  • Sonae Maia, Portugal
    • Sonae MC Senhora da Hora, Portugal
      • Continente Senhora da Hora
      • Meu Super Subsidiary
      • Wells Subsidiary · Maia, Portugal
      • Continente Bom Dia Subsidiary · Portugal
      • Continente Modelo Subsidiary · Portugal
      • Washy Subsidiary · Portugal
    • NOS Subsidiary · 37.4% · Lisbon
      • Cinemas NOS Subsidiary · Lisbon
      • NOS Comunicações Subsidiary · Portugal
    • Bright Pixel Subsidiary · Maia, Portugal
    • Optimus Telecomunicações Subsidiary · Lisboa, Portugal
    • Público Subsidiary · Lisbon
    • Sonae Indústria Subsidiary · Maia
    • Sonae Sierra Subsidiary · Lisbon
    • Sonaecom Subsidiary · Maia
    • Worten Subsidiary · Carnaxide, Portugal
    • Fashion Division, S.A. Subsidiary · Maia, Portugal
      • COMERCIAL LOSAN, S.L. Subsidiary · Caspe, Spain
    • MCRETAIL, SGPS, S.A. Subsidiary · Matosinhos, Portugal
      • Elergone Energia, Lda Subsidiary · Matosinhos, Portugal
      • MARCAS MC Zrt. (MARCAS MC Szolgáltató Zártkörűen Működő Részvénytársaság) Subsidiary · Budapest, Hungary
      • MODELO CONTINENTE HIPERMERCADOS S.A. Subsidiary · Matosinhos, Portugal
      • Pharmacontinente - Saude e Higiene, S.A. (Pharmacontinente - Saúde e Higiene, S.A.) Subsidiary · Senhora da Hora, Portugal
    • Sparkfood, S.A. Subsidiary · Maia, Portugal
    • WORTEN - EQUIPAMENTOS PARA O LAR S.A. Subsidiary · Matosinhos, Portugal

Built from parent and subsidiary links from GLEIF, the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (CC0); subsidiaries, stakes and holdings from Wikidata (CC0). Each entity in the chart links to its source.

The story

Sonae Distribuição started in 1985 by the merger of two large retailers, Modelo and Continente. Modelo was owned by the Sonae holding, while Continente was the Portuguese and Spanish operation of the French retailer Promodès, known by the ensign Continent elsewhere.

Thus, it was part-owned by its French competitor, Carrefour, who sold their stake to Sonae for €345 million on 16 November 2004.

In 2008, Carrefour sold its Portuguese retail ventures existing under the Carrefour ensign to Sonae. Continente used to have one branch in Dubai, which was later purchased by Carrefour. The Continente ensign disappeared from Spain after the 1999 Carrefour-Promodès merge.

From Wikipedia’s article on Continente, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Products and brands

  • grocery store

Listed on Wikidata.1

The supermarket chain operates three main store formats; regular Continente stores, Continente Bom Dia (convenience stores and smaller supermarkets in urban locations, designed for more frequent purchases of everyday life, 800 m2 (8,600 sq ft)) and Continente Modelo stores (hypermarkets of proximity, with an area of about 2,000 m2 (22,000 sq ft)).

At the end of its 2009/10 financial year Continente store portfolio was as follows.

From Wikipedia’s article on Continente, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Subsidiaries and ownership

Parent company

Owners

From Wikidata.1

Timeline

  1. 1985Founded Founded in Matosinhos1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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