According to them, Auchan would have resumed the steps for a possible transaction with Carrefour, after the previous negotiations failed last autumn.
In this regard, Auchan has been in talks with several private equity firms about a possible alliance for a bid. However, the sources stressed that the discussions are ongoing and there is no certainty that an offer will be launched, informs Agepres.–
According to data released by Bloomberg, Carrefour shares rose on Wednesday for the eighth consecutive session, the longest period of growth in Carrefour shares in the last four years.
Also on Wednesday, Carrefour’s shares appreciated by up to 6.6%, giving the company a market value of about 13.5 billion euros.
Earlier this year, talks on the takeover of Carrefour by Canadian retailer Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. were abandoned due to opposition from the French government.
Subsequently, in October last year, Auchan tried to take over Carrefour at a price of 21 euros per share or 16.6 billion euros in total, but in the end the talks were stopped due to disagreements over the price and transaction structure.
The quoted source mentions that the French food distribution market is ready for a consolidation given the fierce competition of some retailers such as Aldi and Lidl. Market research firm Kantar claims that the market leader is Leclerc SA, with a share of 22.7%, followed by Carrefour with 19.4% while Auchan is only in fifth place with a share of 9.2% .
In addition to competition from low-cost rivals, French food distributors are also facing the need to expand their e-commerce operations. Carrefour CEO Alexandre Bompard unveiled a three-billion-euro investment plan in digital operations over the next four years in November.
At the same time, Auchan is suffering from its exposure to large hypermarkets, large stores that sell all kinds of products and in most cases are located on the outskirts of cities in northern France, a region facing economic difficulties, according to Clement Genelot, analyst the firm Bryan Garnier. He believes that hypermarket stores have lost their appeal to consumers.
On the local market, Auchan Romania has in its portfolio 33 Auchan hypermarkets, a network of 106 MyAuchan convenience stores, of which 92 in Petrom stations, and five Auchan supermarkets.
In turn, Carrefour opened two hypermarkets in December and ended 2021 with 43 stores in this format on the Romanian market. Carrefour achieved a turnover of 78.609 billion euros in 2020, up 7.8% in terms comparable to 2019.
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