Canada’s Couche-Tard and French retail operator Carrefour end $20bn takeover talks

Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard and Carrefour broke off talks on a proposed $20 billion deal in the face of strong opposition from France’s finance minister to the tie-up.

The decision to halt negotiations came after top executives of the Quebec-based convenience-shop operator flew to Paris to offer the government several sweeteners: billions of euros of investment in Carrefour shops, no job cuts for at least two years and dual stock listings in France and Canada.

It was not enough to persuade finance minister Bruno Le Maire, who told executives in a private meeting on Friday he was standing by his position that a takeover would be bad for France. Earlier, Mr Le Maire said on BFM TV: “To sum up: it’s a no. A courteous no, but a no that is clear and definitive”.

Couche-Tard executives flew back to Canada after the failed talks. While discussions are on ice for now, they could be revived later if the government changes its position.

A merger would have created a retail powerhouse, combining Couche-Tard’s North America-focused network of 14,200 convenience shops with Carrefour’s sizeable European operations, which include hypermarkets and smaller outlets.

Carrefour has more than 7,000 convenience shops and receives almost all of its revenue from Europe and Latin America.

Couche-Tard, Canada’s largest retailer by market value, faced hurdles from the outset for its offer of €20 ($24.23) per share.

Mr Le Maire signalled that even if both parties agreed to the transaction, regulators could still block it.

Carrefour shares fell by 2.9 per cent to €16.61 in Paris on Friday. Couche-Tard rose 4.8 per cent to C$37.98 ($29.91) in Toronto. Representatives from Carrefour and CoucheTard did not respond to requests for comment.

For French President Emmanuel Macron, the political stakes are high with local polls later this year and presidential election in 2022.

The campaign is already on, with his handling of the pandemic making him open to criticism. The loss of a wellknown French company to a foreign takeover could boost support for nationalist Marine Le Pen, his primary rival for leadership.

France has often objected to foreign attempts to take over its blue-chip companies