French Government Opposes Couche-Tard's Takeover of Carrefour
January 14 2021 - 4:25AM
Dow Jones News
By Joshua Kirby
The French government could block a proposed takeover of grocer
Carrefour SA by Canadian convenience-store operator Alimentation
Couche-Tard Inc. in order to protect jobs and France's food-supply
chain, the country's finance minister said.
Finance and Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire isn't in favor of a
takeover of Carrefour, he told TV station France 5 late on
Wednesday.
Carrefour is France's biggest private-sector employer, and, like
other major supermarket chains, plays an important role in food
distribution, Mr. Le Maire said. "What is at stake here is the
French people's food sovereignty," he said. "The idea that
Carrefour might be bought by a foreign player--in principle, I am
not in favor of such a move."
Mr. Le Maire underlined that the French food-distribution sector
is subject to a law that mandates the approval of his ministry for
such operations.
Couche-Tard earlier on Wednesday confirmed that it had made a
non-binding offer of 20 euros ($24.32) a share for the company,
valuing it at around EUR16.1 billion ($19.58 billion). Carrefour
had previously said it was in "very preliminary" talks over a
tie-up.
At 0854GMT, shares in Carrefour traded 7.2% lower at EUR16.29,
after recording an intraday high of EUR18.10 on Wednesday amid news
of the potential deal.
Write to Joshua Kirby at joshua.kirby@dowjones.com;
@joshualeokirby
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 14, 2021 04:10 ET (09:10 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Carrefour (PK) (USOTC:CRRFY)
Historical Stock Chart
From Oct 2024 to Nov 2024
Carrefour (PK) (USOTC:CRRFY)
Historical Stock Chart
From Nov 2023 to Nov 2024