Carrefour Denies Withdrawal Of Assets From Chinese Market Or Wants To Revive European Business

P, the second largest retailer in the world, has once again heard rumors of "evacuating the Chinese market". Carrefour is considering selling its business in mainland China and Taiwan, citing people familiar with the matter. According to people familiar with the matter, the plan covers two ways: either to initiate an initial public offering (IPO) in Hongkong, China, or to form part of a joint venture with another company. < /p >
< p > yesterday, the reporter made a negative answer to the Carrefour in China. "We have full confidence in the Chinese market, and to invest and develop in China in the long run, we will enter 30 new cities in the future." Carrefour China responsible person said. < /p >
< p > < strong > IPO or joint venture < /strong > /p >
Carrefour has made two plans for the above sale plan, P said. One is IPO in Hongkong, China, and the other is a joint venture of some assets with another company. < /p >
< p > "the way to find partners will keep Carrefour competitive, and IPO will bring capital to expand business in China." The person familiar with the matter said. < /p >
Prior to P, Pierre-Edouard Boudot, an analyst at Natixis bank in France, also suggested that asset restructuring is a long and costly process. In view of the fact that Carrefour's financial position has been stretched, the group will need to use external resources to finance. It is a good way to list profitable companies in emerging countries. < /p >
< p > Carrefour has been implemented in some markets for the purpose of forming a joint venture. At the end of May, Carrefour announced that it would form a joint venture with CFAO group, a large French company, to develop multi format stores in 8 African countries. The 8 markets are Cameroon, Congo (gold), Cote d'Ivoire, Congo (cloth), Gabon, Garner, Nigeria and Senegal. < /p >
< p > according to the cooperation agreement, Carrefour will hold 45% of the joint venture company and belong to the smaller shareholder. Since then, Carrefour will be responsible for providing retail expertise and building brand effect, while CFAO has been operating in 30 African markets and will be responsible for in-depth study of local markets and supply chains. < /p >
< p > < strong > > groundless. < /strong > < /p >
< p > "Carrefour is not likely to divestiture China completely or withdraw from the Chinese market. After all, there are more than 100 stores in China, which are sold in the short term, which are more difficult to operate, but do not exclude contraction in certain areas." Wang Yikai, a management consultant, said in an interview with reporters that unlike the Greek market, China's retail market still has growth prospects. < /p >
Tang Jianian, vice president of Carrefour Group and President of Greater China region, has also repeatedly stressed that "China is one of the two most important markets of Carrefour" in its media interview recently. P Data show that Carrefour's sales in China now account for about 77% of its total sales in Asia because Carrefour has withdrawn from Asia much more. < /p >
< p > Carrefour 2012 earnings report shows that although Carrefour's global performance is not satisfactory, the emerging markets in 2012 have performed well, especially in China. In 2012, the group's annual sales revenue was 86 billion 558 million euros, up 1% from the same period last year, the lowest level since 2005. However, China's growth has been good, with annual revenue of 5 billion 583 million euros, up 10.8% over the same period last year. < /p >
< p > in fact, this is not the first time that Carrefour has been sold for sale in China. Earlier, it was reported that Carrefour approached COFCO, hoping that COFCO could buy its business in China for $6 billion, but COFCO was willing to pay only $3 billion, and ultimately it could not be settled because prices could not be talked about. In August last year, a local retail business boss also broke the news that Carrefour's business in China would be sold, and it might be Huarun. < /p >
< p > < strong > there are difficulties in the sale of assets < /strong > < /p >
Except P, Carrefour's life in other markets is not very good. At present, more than 70% of Carrefour's business is concentrated in Europe, but Carrefour's performance in Europe has been depressed by the impact of the European financial crisis and online shopping. Since George Plaza became CEO, Carrefour has frequently sold assets to reinvigorate its European business. For example, in 2010, it withdrew from the southern market of Italy and withdrew from the Greek market in June 2012. < /p >
On the global scale, Carrefour withdrew from the Korean market in 2006, withdrew from the Russian market in 2009, withdrew from the Japanese market for 10 years in 2010, and sold all the stores in Thailand in 2011. In August 2012, Carrefour announced that it closed the only two stores in Singapore by the end of the year and completely quit the Singapore market. < /p >
In addition, Carrefour announced last month that it would sell its remaining 25% stake in the Middle East joint venture to partner Majid Al Futtaim (MAF) at a price of 530 million euros. P Analysts believe that Carrefour's resale of equity in the Middle East joint venture is intended to fade out of the local market. < /p >
< p > analysts believe that another reason for the frequent sale of assets is the pressure of major shareholders. In 2007, the Halley family announced the termination of the agreement with Carrefour shareholders. At that time, Carrefour's second largest shareholder, the French luxury giant Arnaud group and the joint venture capital company of the US private equity fund, the blue capital company, became the major shareholder of Carrefour. However, Carrefour's share price has been declining since the blue capital came to Carrefour, resulting in a great loss of investment. To this end, for large shareholders, selling assets and raising profits by making profits is a short term effective way. < /p >