Carrefour is purchasing convenience stores operating in France under the Dia brand, to expand its small-format reach within its home market. The Dia France takeover was agreed at a cost of about NZ$820 million. The company, which has 800 stores nationwide, was spun off and listed on the Spanish stock exchange three years ago.
Observers such as Fitch ratings agency said that the acquisition would benefit Carrefour, giving the company 550,000 square metres of convenience retail space in the market, where it is under-represented. “Fitch calculates that the acquisition would have increased Carrefour’s 2013 convenience sales to approximately 16% of the group’s total French sales from approximately 11.5%. The acquisition will provide the group not only with close to 2 percentage points of additional market share, it will also help balance Carrefour’s geographic coverage in France,” said a spokesperson.
Carrefour also announced the acquisition of 53 supermarkets under the Billa banner from the Rewe Group. Located in northern Italy and with a combined sales area of 58,000 sqm, the stores generated net sales of around 300 million euros in 2013. This acquisition, consistent with Carrefour’s multiformat strategy, will allow Carrefour to strengthen its presence in northern Italy. The completion of the transaction is subject to the approval of the relevant authorities and consultations with Billa’s employee representative bodies.
