Carrefour seeks Spanish expansion through Uvesco acquisition

Carrefour reportedly has plans to take over Spanish supermarket group Uvesco, but there may be rival bids from French and Portuguese competitors.

Strong in Northern Spain

Uvesco is a Spanish supermarket group that operates in Central and Northern Spain, under the brand names BM Supermercados and Super Amara, and is a particularly important player in the Basque Country. It is currently owned by French investment fund PAI Partners. The takeover price is estimated at between 700 and 800 million euros.

According to the Spanish press, the negotiations are at an advanced stage, but there are still some major issues to be solved. For instance, Carrefour’s French rival Auchan – which already took over 224 Dia supermarkets in 2022 through its Spanish branch Alcampo – and Portuguese market leader Sonae are also said to be in the race for Uvesco. Moreover, Carrefour may have to close a large number of supermarkets as it already has a 10 % market share in Spain, making it the country’s second largest chain after Mercadona.

Uvesco closed its 2023 financial year with a sales growth of 8.8 % to 1.1 billion euros, after a “complex” year marked by inflation and changes in consumer habits. In February, the group acquired 31 Hiber supermarkets in Madrid. PAI Partners acquired Uvesco at the end of 2021, as it saw many opportunities in the fragmented Spanish food market, but that would make it rather surprising that they would already want to sell the chain again.