Suning.com has completed its acquisition of Carrefour’s Chinese business, as the retailer looks to accelerate the expansion of its bricks-and-mortar portfolio.
The Chinese retail giant completed the €620m (£511.1m) deal overnight, taking an 80% equity stake in Carrefour China, after the two retailers reached an agreement in June.
Suning said that the Carrefour China brand will “remain independent,” but would benefit from its “retail cloud model, open technology, logistics and supply chain capabilities”.
The Chinese retailer’s chairman Zhang Jindong also said that Carrefour China would look to open 300 new concept stores in cities over the next five years.
The retailer will also begin integrating Suning home appliance sections into more than 200 Carrefour Stores from tomorrow. Carrefour stores will also incorporate other Suning assets including “mother-infant, sports retail and movie theatre”.
Jindong said: “This is a key step in Suning’s smart retail plans. Carrefour’s FMCG experience and supply chain capabilities can be integrated with Suning’s full-scenario retail model, solid logistics network and advanced technology.
“With our smart retail capabilities, Suning can transform the Carrefour stores into fully integrated online-and-offline supermarkets to meet evolving consumer demands.”
French grocery giant Carrefour launched in China in 1995 and operated 210 hypermarkets and 24 convenience stores there – however, last year it only generated EBITDA of €66m (£58.6m) on sales of €3.6bn (£3.2bn).
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