Canadian firm pulls out of Carrefour takeover after French govt’s ‘No’

Paris, France - Canadian convenience store chain Couche-Tard has dropped its multi-billioneuro takeover bid for French supermarket giant Carrefour, the two companies confirmed on Saturday, after Paris said it would veto the deal.

Carrefour and Couche-Tard said they would pursue ‘operational partnerships’ after the French government signalled it would not agree to the takeover because it could jeopardise food security - an even more important consideration given the coronavirus pandemic.

The two companies said in a joint statement that they hoped to cooperate in areas such as ‘pooling purchasing volumes, partnering on private labels, improving the customer journey through innovation, and evaluating ways of optimising product distribution’ after Paris scuppered the deal.

Couche-Tard, which operates internationally under Circle K and other brands, had on Wednesday submitted a nonbinding offer for Carrefour, valuing the group at more than € 16bn.

But France’s Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire made his feelings clear on Friday, telling BFM and RMC television that his position was a ‘polite, but clear and definitive No’.

“Food security is a strategic consideration for our country and one does not just hand over one of the large French distributors like that,” Le Maire said.

“Carrefour is the biggest private sector employer in France with nearly 100,000 employees,” he added.