The Cora stores located in France, purchased by Carrefour from the Belgian group Louis Delhaize, will gradually change brand from October 1 and by the end of the same month, the distribution giant announced on Monday.
Carrefour announced on July 1 the finalization of the official takeover of the Cora and Match stores – the latter retaining their name – as well as their Provera purchasing center. The operation was carried out on the basis of an enterprise value of 1.05 billion euros.
“Progressive changeover of 60 stores”
This acquisition, however, did not concern the Belgian activities of the Louis Delhaize group. The latter owned 60 Cora hypermarkets and 115 Match supermarkets, often located in the north-eastern quarter of France. According to Carrefour, they represent around 2.4% of the very competitive food distribution market, and employ 22,000 people.
Monday in a press release, Carrefour announced that its “ acquisition of the distributor Cora enters a new phase with the gradual transition of the 60 stores under their new brand “. During this “shift”, hypermarkets will remain open, specifies Carrefour.
The acquisition of Cora and Match is “ the most important for Carrefour since the acquisition of Promodès » in 1999, according to CEO Alexandre Bompard. It allows Carrefour to consolidate its second place behind E.Leclerc, which holds almost a quarter of the market, and ahead of Les Mousquetaires/Intermarché, which bought numerous stores from the struggling Casino group.
