The resignation on Wednesday of the supervisory board chairman at Carrefour SA, coupled with a major share purchase by two big-name investors, fueled speculation of a shift in strategy at the French retailer, which is struggling to meet fierce competition at home and abroad.
Carrefour, the world's second-largest retailer, after Wal-Mart Stores Inc, said its supervisory board chairman, Luc Vandevelde, would be succeeded by Robert Halley, strengthening the grip of the Halley family, Carrefour's biggest shareholder.
Aurelie Launay, a spokeswoman for Carrefour in Paris, declined to give a reason for Vandevelde's resignation after two years in the job.
The news came shortly after Bernard Arnault, the richest man in France, and Colony Capital, a US private equity firm, said they had bought a 9.1 percent stake in Carrefour, worth about 4 billion euros (US$5.2 billion). The two, who said they were long-term investors, are joining forces with Axon Capital, which already owns 0.7 percent of Carrefour.
Arnault and Colony Capital, which is run by the billionaire Thomas Barrack Jr., would like to work with the Halley family and Carrefour's management to "unlock some of the inherent value of the company," a spokesman for the two companies said.
Arnault is chief executive of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the luxury-goods company, and Colony Capital specializes in real estate investments.
"They may see a hidden value in the stock on the back of the size of Carrefour's real estate," said Alexandre Iatrides, an analyst at Richelieu Finance in Paris.
Iatrides said the company's real estate may be worth 20 billion euros, compared with the valuation of 15 billion euros the company has placed on it.
Private equity firms and other investors have been attracted to retail companies because of the real estate they own and the potential to make money by selling the real estate and leasing it back. Colony specializes in buying firms to manage their real estate.
Carrefour has been at the center of takeover rumors since Vandevelde was ousted as chairman of the family's own holding company this year. The Halley family, which has owned a 13 percent stake in Carrefour since it sold its Promodes chain to the company in 1999, said last month that Vandevelde no longer shared the family's strategic goals.
The value of the Halley family stake has almost halved over the last seven years.
Carrefour, which has more than 12,000 outlets in 29 countries, has struggled to keep its position as the cheapest supermarket chain in France because of competition from rivals like E.Leclerc. Carrefour disappointed investors this year when its fourth-quarter revenue missed analysts' estimates.
Vandevelde has been partly credited for helping Carrefour back to its feet after years of slumping sales, and the company's shares have risen by about 18 percent since he joined. The company has pursued a strategy of expansion in emerging markets, but it has struggled in Italy and Taiwan and has come under pressure to cut prices in France.
Vandevelde joined Carrefour from the British retailer Marks & Spencer in 2005. His ties to the Halley family go back to the 1990s, when he headed Promodes.
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US
‘FALLACY’: Xi’s assertions that Taiwan was given to the PRC after WWII confused right and wrong, and were contrary to the facts, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday called Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) claim that China historically has sovereignty over Taiwan “deceptive” and “contrary to the facts.” In an article published on Wednesday in the Russian state-run Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Xi said that this year not only marks 80 years since the end of World War II and the founding of the UN, but also “Taiwan’s restoration to China.” “A series of instruments with legal effect under international law, including the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Declaration have affirmed China’s sovereignty over Taiwan,” Xi wrote. “The historical and legal fact” of these documents, as well
RSS