"Carrefour to withdraw from Taiwan"

French supermarket group Carrefour is said to be planning to sell off its Taiwan operations, valued at around 1.6 billion euros, shortly.

Wellcome Taiwan

According to Reuters, American investment bank Morgan Stanley will be in charge of the sale, which is expected to commence after the summer. Anonymous sources told the news agency that Carrefour had already approached several potential buyers. Neither of the companies wished to react to the news.

In December last year, Carrefour acquired Wellcome Taiwan from Dairy Farm. With an enterprise value of 97 million euros, the deal included the transfer of 224 convenience stores and a distribution centre.

The French group reported net sales of 1.26 billion euros in Taiwan in the first half of the year, up 13 % year-on-year at constant exchange rates. At the time, the company said that the newly acquired Wellcome stores performed well above expectations.

Two years ago, Carrefour already largely withdrew from the highly competitive Chinese market, selling 80 % of its loss-making business to electronics retailer Suning.com.