Carrefour offers 152 million for Colruyt subsidiary Codifrance

Colruyt Group has received a binding offer of 152 million euros from Carrefour for its French wholesale division, Codifrance. A sale should allow Colruyt to further focus on its strategic priorities as a food and health retailer.

“Maximizing growth potential”

In a press release on October 9, Colruyt Group had already announced that it was in exclusive negotiations with Carrefour regarding a potential sale of Codifrance. Following these negotiations, Colruyt Group has now received a binding offer from Carrefour. Colruyt Group will decide whether or not to exercise the sale option after consulting with employee representative bodies. In addition, the proposed transaction remains subject to approval by the French competition authorities. The proposed transaction is expected to be completed in the first half of 2027.

“We are proud of what the Codifrance teams have achieved in recent years and recognize that this announcement has, first and foremost, a significant and emotional impact on the employees. Codifrance has developed into a leading player in the distribution to local retailers in France,” says Colruyt Group CEO Stefan Goethaert. “At the same time, we recognize that the French distribution market is evolving rapidly and continuing to consolidate. From that perspective, we believe that Codifrance could maximize its growth potential within an environment that would be even better aligned with its market and ambitions. At the same time, this step would allow Colruyt Group to further focus on its strategic priorities as a food and health retailer.”

Codifrance, with revenue of 310 million euros, supplies dry goods, fresh products, and frozen foods to more than 800 affiliated stores under its own brands—Panier Sympa, Épi Service, and VivÉco—as well as to the licensed brands Coccinelle and Coccimarket.