Paval Holding, Zabka and Auchan reportedly in talks for Carrefour’s Romanian assets

Paval Holding, which operates among others the DIY chain Dedeman but also real estate properties, the Polish group Zabka active on the local market with Froo chain, and French retailer Auchan, are reportedly in talks with Carrefour for taking over the latter’s local assets – 458 stores that generated EUR 2.3 billion of revenues in the first three quarters of this year, according to Profit.ro.

Paval Holding is not active on the food retail market, and the deal would mark a strategic expansion.

The Polish group Zabka is a new entrant to the Romanian market and has a huge appetite for expansion, but its focus is on convenience stores, of which Carrefour has a network of 187 units.

After the first year and a half of operation, the Froo network, under which Zabka operates in Romania, has reached 122 stores.

The French Auchan group is active in all counties of Romania, with a network consisting of 26 hypermarkets, seven ATAC discount hypermarkets, eight supermarkets, 395 MyAuchan stores, most of them in Petrom stations, and four Simply by Auchan stores. The acquisition of the Carrefour network by the Auchan group may thus pose competition problems, given that it would double its presence on the local market.

French media reported last month that Carrefour has mandated BNP Paribas to test investor interest in selling its Romanian operations.

The information came after the retailer announced its complete exit from the Italian market this summer. Possible exits are also being discussed for the Polish and Argentine markets.

(Photo source: Carrefour Romania)