Photographer: Jeremy Suyker / Bloomberg
Photographer: Jeremy Suyker / Bloomberg
Canada Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. and France Carrefour USA has abandoned talks on a proposed $ 20 billion merger following strong opposition from the French finance minister, and will instead focus on creating a narrower alliance.
The companies will now consider how to work together on fuel purchasing, branding and distribution where their networks operate, the companies said in a joint report Saturday.
“The opportunity for working partnerships with Carrefour will take our journey forward towards growing in front a global retailer, ”said Brian Hannasch, president and chief executive officer of Couche-Tard.
A merger would create a retail powerhouse, combining a network of 14,200 facilities at Couche-Tard in North America with major European operations Carrefour, which includes supermarkets and smaller outlets. It could also be considered one of the largest ever holdings of a French company by a foreign entity.
The decision to suspend the union talks comes after top officials of the Quebec-based company flew to Paris to offer several sweeteners to the government, including billions of euros of investment in Carrefour stores, without job cuts for at least two years and double stock lists into France and Canada.
‘Non’
They did not persuade Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, a he told activists in a private meeting on Friday that he was standing by his position that takeover would be bad for France. Earlier in the day, Le Maire told BFM TV: “To take note: no. Courtly, but none that are clear and conclusive. ”
Couche-Tard, Canada’s largest retailer by market value, was opposed to barriers from the outset for its offer of 20 euros per share. Le Maire said that although both parties agreed to the issue, regulators could still block it. Carrefour employs around 100,000 people in France and is the largest private employer in the country.
The minister has previously expressed concerns about a series of French supermarkets falling into foreign hands, saying the country needs to maintain domestic control over its food supply. Covid’s crisis has fueled that argument, and France has recently relinquished its authority to ban foreign takeovers.
In Ottawa, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had said his government was willing to support Couche-Tard’s takeover bid.
Shares of Carrefour fell 2.9% to 16.61 euros in Paris on Friday. Couche-Tard rose 4.8% to C $ 37.98 in Toronto – shares in the Canadian company fell after Bloomberg reported on the talks on Jan. 13, expressing investors’ concern that a deal would reducing the debt burden of the entity collectively.
(Adds a possible alliance from the second paragraph)