Carrefour Exits Greece, Bulgarian Stores Run by Marinopoulos Only

Carrefour, France's largest supermarket retailer by sales, said it would sell its 50% stake in its supermarket chain in Greece to its local partner, the Marinopoulos family. Photo by EPA/BGNES

Just days ahead of Greece's crucial elections, French supermarket retailer Carrefour said it would abandon the country, its only unprofitable market.

Carrefour, France's largest supermarket retailer by sales, said it would sell its 50% stake in its supermarket chain in Greece to its local partner, the Marinopoulos family.

The price of the deal was not disclosed, but the French group said it would take a mostly noncash charge of EUR 220 M.

Carrefour said the sale would allow the joint venture, which also operates in Cyprus, Bulgaria, Albania and other Balkan countries, "to meet the challenges of Greece's prevailing economic environment."

Carrefour Marinopoulos, formed in 1999, will continue to operate as a franchisee of Carrefour in Bulgaria and the French company will provide products in exchange for a fee.

The venture has 41 hypermarkets, 287 supermarkets and 479 convenience stores in Greece and Cyprus.

Carrefour SA opened its first Sofia store at The Mall, the country's largest shopping center, in April 2010, five years after abandoning the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

The Paris-based company, Europe's biggest retailer, said it wants to shore up flagging sales at home by expanding in Bulgaria, where investors enjoy lower wages and costs.

In Bulgaria Carrefour competes with German chains Metro AG and Rewe Handelsgruppe, which run the Metro hypermarkets and Billa supermarkets, as well as Ljubljana, Slovenia-based Mercator, the largest supermarket chain in the Balkans, which opened its first superstore here in 2009.

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