PARIS (Reuters) – Carrefour has decided to end its interest in a possible tie-up with Auchan after the two French retailers held exploratory talks in recent months, daily newspaper Le Figaro reported on Saturday.
The decision was taken by Carrefour’s strategic committee on Thursday on the recommendation of Chief Executive Alexandre Bompard who considered a potential deal with Auchan as too complex, Le Figaro said.
Carrefour and Auchan could not be immediately reached for comment.
Le Monde, another French daily, had reported at the end of September that Bompard was examining options for sector consolidation and his group had held talks with the Mulliez family that controls Auchan.
Carrefour said in June it had started considering possible consolidation, divestitures or tie-ups of its foreign subsidiaries, but had not made a decision to sell any assets.
In January, Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard dropped its 16.2 billion euro ($19.57 billion) bid for Carrefour after the French government opposed the deal, citing food security concerns.
(Reporting by Gus Trompiz and Laetitia Volga, Editing by William Maclean)
