Carrefour Stock Drops by 6% After Discussions Stop with Couche-Tard

CARREFOUR Stock Drops by 6% After Discussions Stop with Canadian Canadian Group Alimentation Couche-Tard

The two distribution groups have suspended preliminary discussions about a potential merger, leading to Carrefour’s stock dropping by 6 per cent to 15.59 euros as revealed on Monday (January 18).

It was reported on January 13 that Canadian distributor Couche-Tard had entered into preliminary discussions with Carrefour with a view to a possible acquisition of the French group, however, on Saturday (January 16), the French distributor and Alimentation Couche-Tard announced in a joint statement that they had suspended those discussions.

In their joint press release, Carrefour and Couche-Tard say they have given up on this project “in view of recent events”, without specifically citing the opposition from the French Government – which had strongly opposed the potential merger.

The two groups said, however, that they are extending their discussions to “examine opportunities for operational partnerships”.

Carrefour’s CEO Alexandre Bompard said in the press release: “Building innovative partnerships is a key point in Carrefour’s transformation strategy.

“The promising partnership envisaged with the North American leader Couche-Tard is fully in line with this strategy which has already enabled us to find a profitable growth path,” he said.

As part of the merger project, Couche-Tard was to inject 3 billion euros of investment in the French group, an idea widely supported by Carrefour which employs 150,000 people in France, making it the largest employer in the private sector.

Brian Hannasch, President and CEO of Couche-Tard, for his part, reaffirmed his group’s ambition to “become a world leader in mass distribution“.

“The areas of cooperation envisaged are aligned with our strategic plan, our commitment to strengthen ourselves in our main activities such as proximity formats and fuel distribution, and our desire to explore the multiple opportunities in the associated growth areas,” he said in a statement.

Thank you for taking the time to read this news article “Carrefour Stock Drops by 6% After Discussions Stop with Couche-Tard”. For more UK daily news, Spanish daily news and Global news stories, visit the Euro Weekly News home page.