France’s Carrefour Does Not See Casino as an Acquisition Target

PARIS (Reuters) – Carrefour, Europe’s largest food retailer, does not see major acquisition opportunities in France and does not view smaller domestic peer Casino as a possible target, Carrefour Chief Executive Alexandre Bompard said on Monday.

“We do not see opportunities to strengthen ourselves in France. There is no Casino topic and there is no topic of massive acquisitions in France,” Bompard told BFM television.

Carrefour said last week it was “highly confident” it could accelerate its turnaround even without a merger with Canadian suitor Alimentation Couche-Tard.

“The Couche-Tard episode is behind us. The page has been turned. We are back on the offensive and we will continue to develop,” Bompard also told BFM on Monday

The deal with Couche-Tard, worth close to $20 billion, was killed off by French ministers who said the food retail sector was of strategic national importance.

“Carrefour is a magnificent company but not a ‘sovereign’ company. No-one can believe that the sovereignty of France hinges on the retail sector. Pharma, defence, these are sovereignty sectors but not retail. This argument is not the right one,” Bompard added.

(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; editing by Jason Neely)