SPAIN – Paris-headquartered retail giant, Carrefour has reached an agreement to acquire 172 stores under the Supersol banner in Spain with an enterprise value of €78 million (US$92.8m).

According to the retailer, the move is aimed to strengthen its number two position in the country by allowing it to accelerate its expansion in line with the strategy underpinning in its 2022 transformation plan.

The 172 convenience stores and supermarkets are located mainly in Andalusia and the Madrid region and Carrefour plans to convert them to the convenience stores (Express), supermarkets (Market) and Spanish discounter Supeco formats.

The converted stores will benefit from Carrefour’s commercial policy and purchasing conditions as the group plans to improve sales density and optimize the cost structure.

This acquisition will also contribute to the development of food e-commerce, with the stores eventually becoming new order pick-up points.

The transaction is subject to customary conditions and is expected to close at the beginning of 2021.

The acquired stores posted net sales of around €450 million in 2019.

The deal follows a series of acquisitions by Carrefour this year including supermarket chain operator Wellcome Taiwan for €97 million, 30 Makro stores for US$450 million, as well as fruit and vegetable box distributor Potager City, and Dejbox, a lunch delivery service.

Under the direction of chairman and chief executive officer Alexandre Bompard, over the past three years Carrefour has been racing to bulk up its digital means and omnichannel systems, drawing up partnerships with a number of external partners, including Google and food delivery companies in various markets like Uber Eats in France and Belgium.

It has also increased its offer of organic produce, reduced the size of its hypermarkets and focused on pricing strategy.

With a multi-format network of more than 12,000 stores in more than 30 countries, the Carrefour Group is one of the world’s leading food retailers.

At end-June, Carrefour operated 1,179 stores in Spain, including 205 hypermarkets, 111 supermarkets, 838 convenience stores and 25 Supeco.

The Group posted net sales of €8,799 million in the country in 2019 and overall gross sales of €80.7 billion in 2019.

Spain’s largest supermarket chain is Mercadona, which has 1,640 stores in the country and 15 in northern Portugal.

Liked this article? Subscribe to Food Business Africa News, our regular email newsletters with the latest news insights from Africa and the World’s food and agro industry. SUBSCRIBE HERE