Competition Council greenlights sale of Carrefour’s Romanian operations to Pavǎl Holding

The Competition Council has approved the transaction through which Pavăl Holding acquires the local operations of Carrefour Group, the institution announced.

The deal covers Carrefour Romania, Supeco Investment, Bringo Magazin, and Columbus Active.

Pavǎl Holding is the investment vehicle of the Pavǎl family, the owners of DIY retailer Dedeman.

Although the activities of the two groups involved in the transaction do not overlap, the competition authority analyzed the potential effects of the deal both on the national market for purchasing fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), primarily food products, and on the retail market for the sale of these products to final consumers. It concluded that the transaction “does not raise significant obstacles to effective competition in the Romanian market or in a substantial part of it, and that there are no serious doubts regarding its compatibility with a normal competitive environment.”

Earlier this year, Carrefour announced it had entered into exclusive negotiations with Pavăl Holding for the sale of all its operations in Romania, in a transaction based on an enterprise value of EUR 823 million. The company said the move was part of Carrefour’s strategic portfolio review launched at the beginning of 2025.

The French retailer operates locally hypermarkets (Carrefour), supermarkets (Carrefour Market), convenience stores (Carrefour Express), and discount stores (Supeco). Its multi-format network covered 478 stores in February of this year: 55 hypermarkets, 191 supermarkets, 202 convenience stores, and 30 discount stores.

Pavăl Holding, owned by Dragoș and Adrian Pavăl, is active in retail, real estate, industry, agriculture, energy, services, and tourism. Dedeman, founded in 1992, operates 65 stores and five logistics centers across Romania.

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