This transfer is essentially the result of a request from the Competition Authority.
Carrefour announced Thursday to sell 9 stores in France, “for a valuation of around 70 million euros”, including 7 at Cooperative U, with whom relations have recently reheated.
This transfer is not the fruit of the vast restructuring that has affected large distribution for months, with many store sales in a tension sector, but essentially the result of a competition authority.
In March, Carrefour was authorized by the body, in particular responsible for ensuring that competition between distributors is not too low at the local level, to buy the CORA and Match brands subject to separating eight stores.
“The group today announces the signing of two agreements on the sale of 9 stores located in the areas identified by the Competition Authority, including 5 Carrefour hypermarkets (including 3 ex-Cora and 1 ex-casino), 2 Carrefour Market, 1 Carrefour City and 1 Match store,” said the group in its press release.
U cooperative is continuing its expansion
The biggest agreement, which concerns 7 stores, has passed with cooperative U, which seeks to reach 15% market share by 2030.
Carrefour and Cooperative U concluded on Monday an agreement and acted their merger over the next few years, allying to negotiate their purchases from suppliers together and from Brussels.
The two brands announced the same day “their intention to cooperate, in a second step, in other areas”, starting with “distributor brands”.
With this acquisition, U cooperative, fourth French distributor (behind Leclerc, Carrefour and Intermarché) continues its race at the square meters.
The other agreement concerns Intermarché, also a buyer in recent months, who acquires two supermarkets, in Argenteuil (Val d’Oise) and Pavillons-sous-Bois (Seine-Saint-Denis).
“These two operations remain subject to ADLC approval as well as in usual conditions,” says Carrefour.
They “should be effective by the end of the first half of 2026” for a total valuation of some 70 million euros.
