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According to business newspapers De Tijd and L’Echo, Carrefour is reviewing its Belgian operations with a view to a possible sale. Rumours that the retailer wants to focus on its three core markets of France, Spain, and Brazil have been circulating for several months.
No concrete information
The reports in both newspapers do not contain much concrete information: the articles merely state that they have heard that Carrefour is reviewing its Belgian operations. It remains unclear where this information comes from. However, they do refer to the exercise that the retailer is also carrying out in other countries. The sale of the Italian branch to food group NewPrinces was given the green light by the European Commission earlier this week.
Activities in Poland, Romania, and Argentina are also said to be up for sale, as was already apparent in September. CEO Alexandre Bompard wants to clean up the retail group and is throwing all taboos overboard in the process. Profitability must be significantly higher. According to unconfirmed reports, Carrefour has engaged investment banks such as JP Morgan and Deutsche Bank to assist with these exercises. There is no mention of a banking mandate in connection with the review or sale of the Belgian activities.
Turnaround
25 years ago, Carrefour acquired the then market leader GB in Belgium, which was loss-making. After two major restructurings, the retailer is now number three in the Belgian market, behind Colruyt Group and Delhaize. The retailer still has 40 hypermarkets, 440 Carrefour Market supermarkets, and more than 300 Carrefour Express neighborhood stores in the country. The vast majority of these stores—except for the hypermarkets and 43 supermarkets—are operated by independent franchisees. Turnover amounts to approximately €4 billion.
Although Carrefour’s market share remains under pressure, there has been a turnaround in Belgium in recent years. Since the appointment of CEO Geoffroy Gersdorff – the first Belgian CEO in 25 years at the company – results have been improving. The retailer is said to have been out of the red since last year, although that does not mean that it is making a lot of profit.
