Grocery giant Carrefour has bought Spanish supermarket Dia’s French arm after France’s competition watchdog gave the deal the green light.
However, the competition authority said that to ward off antitrust concerns, the French retailer must sell 56 of the 800 Dia stores it is acquiring as part of the deal.
In June Carrefour revealed plans to buy Dia’s loss-making French arm in a deal valued at €600m (£477m) including debt. According to reports, the transaction should be complete in the coming weeks.
In a statement, Carrefour chief executive Georges Plassat said: “This acquisition will allow Carrefour to pursue its multi-format expansion in the domestic market.”
Carrefour owned Dia from 2000 until it spun it off in 2011 when Dia was listed on the Spanish stock exchange.
Dia recorded a net loss of €18m (£14.3m) in France last year and unions have voiced concerns it might shut its least profitable stores - around 200 of them - putting 1,500 jobs at risk, according to Reuters.
Dia was founded in 1979 and is the world’s third-largest discount supermarket group.
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