French group Carrefour is set to take over the operations carried out by the French-Belgian group Louis-Delhaize under the Cora brand in Romania in what is the largest transaction in food retail in recent years, Ziarul Financiar announced. Other bidders were reportedly interested.

Cora is the smallest international retailer in Romania in terms of both turnover and network.

The deal is valued at EUR 70 mln-EUR 90 mln, according to sources familiar with the market quoted by Ziarul Financiar.

The two parties did not confirm the signing of the agreement.

The transaction, reportedly due to be signed this week, concerns the network of ten hypermarkets and several other modern proximity stores – namely only Cora's operations in Romania.

The French retailer no longer owns real estate properties. At the end of 2021, it sold six commercial properties to the Austrian group Supernova, remaining a tenant. The other four hypermarkets were already operating in rented spaces, as were the small shops.

iulian@romania-insider.com

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