The richest European and the third richest man in the world – the Frenchman Bernard Arnault, gave up his investment in the supermarket chain Carrefour. The businessman sold his shares in the company 14 years after investing in it for the first time.
Arno Financiere Agache’s holding company sold its 5.5% stake in Carrefour for about $ 19. The total deal is about 850 million dollars before taxes, writes Forbes.
The French entrepreneur’s investment in the company has not been particularly successful over the years. In March 2007, Agache’s parent company, Groupe Arnault, bought a 9.8% stake in partnership with investment companies Colony Capital and Axon Capital. The deal was then estimated at between $ 4.3 billion and $ 5 billion.
Arno’s partners withdrew from the investment in 2017. He was then left with a share of 8.7% in the French chain, valued at $ 1.6 billion. For the period between 2007 and 2017, the company’s shares fell by nearly 60%, and since then – by another 26 percent.
During these years, the company also changed several CEOs amid increased competition in the trade sector in France and Europe. Two years ago, Bernard Arnault stepped down from the Board of Directors at Carrefour. He started selling his stake in the company in the fall of 2020.
4 years after leaving Bulgaria, Carrefour became part of a new giant in a $ 20 billion deal
Negotiations are still at an early stage
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Financiere Agache’s exit from Carrefour comes 8 months after the failed large-scale deal for the company. In early 2021, the Canadian chain Alimentation Couche-Tard announced plans to acquire its French competitor. The proposed price was $ 20 billion.
After sharp reactions from the French government, as well as criticism from a number of experts, the two companies abandoned it.
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In just four days, the $ 20 billion deal for France’s Carrefour failed
After criticism from the government in Paris
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