Carrefour SA agreed to buy the Cora and Match banners in France from the Louis Delhaize group for an enterprise value of €1.05 billion ($1.2 billion), marking the retailer’s first major acquisition in its domestic market in more than 20 years.
The all-cash deal includes 60 hypermarkets and 115 supermarkets mostly in eastern and northern parts of the country where Carrefour has little presence, the French retailer said in a statement on Wednesday. These stores had net sales of €5.2 billion last year, according to the statement.
The transaction is expected to close in the summer of 2024 and will boost earnings per share from the first year, according to Carrefour. It estimates integration costs at €200 million.
Carrefour said the purchase will help it expand at home at a time when opportunities to buy quality assets are rare. It comes as Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky and a trio of French business executives compete to take control of its debt-laden rival, Casino Guichard-Perrachon SA.
In a parallel deal, Carmila SA, in which Carrefour holds a 36% stake, agreed to buy Louis Delhaize’s 93% holding in Galimmo SCA for €294 million in cash. Galimmo owns 52 shopping galleries next to Cora stores.
