Carrefour continues to expand
troubled company El Arbol for an undisclosed sum. The French
company has also unveiled plans to step up its investments in
Brazil.
Carrefour, the French retail giant which has operations in more than 30 countries, has increased its presence in Spain, one of its leading foreign markets, with the acquisition of a number of stores previously owned by Dutch group Laurus.
Dia, the supermarket chain owned by Carrefour in Spain, is to buy 38 supermarkets under the El Arbol banner as part of a restructuring programme instigated last year by the loss-making Spanish chain. El Arbol was sold by Laurus in October last year to venture capital company CVC Capital Partners.
The price paid for the 38 stores was not disclosed, but Carrefour did confirm that the stores would be in Andalusia, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y Leon, Asturias, Cantabria, Extremadura, Galicia and Murcia.
This is the second tranche of stores sold by El Arbol since its acquisition by CVC. Earlier this year Lider Aliment bought seven stores from the company. Dia had been expected to buy those stores as well, and it is possible the Carrefour unit may add more El Arbol outlets to its portfolio in the future as El Arbol continues to reduce its store numbers.
Meanwhile, Carrefour has also announced plans to increase investment in its Brazilian business this year, although the emphasis will be on new store development rather than acquisitions. Press reports suggest that seven or eight new hypermarkets and five supermarkets will open their doors this year.
The company - which was affected by currency devaluations in both Brazil and Argentina last year - operates 79 Carrefour hypermarkets and 114 Champion supermarkets in Brazil.
