The Canadian group Couche-Tard negotiates the acquisition of Carrefour

The Canadian Group of Grocery Stores Couche-Tard, in turn owner of Circle K, negotiate with Carrefour a possible acquisition which would result in a group of more than $ 50 billion. The market capitalization of Carrefour amounts to almost 14,000 million euros, while that of Couche-Tard exceeds 46,000 million Canadian dollars (29,600 million euros) after closing this Tuesday with a fall of 2.22%.

Both companies have confirmed that they are in negotiations, although still in an early stage. Couche-Tard affirmed Tuesday that it has started “exploratory discussions” on an amicable agreement with Carrefour, confirming a report from Bloomberg. “Carrefour has been approached, in a friendly manner, by Alimentation Couche-Tard, regarding a combination project. Discussions are very preliminary,” the French company said.

Couche-Tard has also underlined the “friendly” nature of the possible agreement, the terms of which have not yet been discussed, adding that at this stage of the exploratory contacts between the two companies there is no certainty as to whether they will lead to any kind of agreement or transaction.

The market reacted to the rise and the value of the French giant’s share on the Paris Stock Exchange opened the session with an increase of 10%, until the 16.92 euros per share, while this Tuesday at 15.46 euros.

As food retailers around the world benefit from increased demand as more consumers stay home, Carrefour reported strong third-quarter performance in the country, as well as in other key markets, Brazil and Spain. In addition, the interest of the Canadian firm in the French is due to its presence in Europe, although it also has a presence in Brazil and Argentina, which would allow greater diversification.

Couche-Tard is only present in Europe in Scandinavia, Ireland, Poland, the Baltic countries and Russia, with about 2,700 stores. Even so, it also has an extensive network of more than 14,200 establishments around the world, including 9,261 stores in North America, with about 109,000 employees. It also has another 2,220 establishments in a dozen countries operated through licensing agreements under the banner. Circle K.

The US group has achieved a great growth in recent years through acquisitions after starting in 1980 with a single store in Montreal. In 2016 it bought the fuel operator CST Brand, while in 2012 it acquired Statoil Fuel & Retail. His international offers have continued, last year he was among the suitors to buy the service stations Speedway, which finally got Seven & i Holdings. In addition, it entered the Asian market last November after reaching a purchase agreement with Convenience Retail Asia.