The world's second largest retailer, Carrefour, has completed the acquisition of 128 Coop Alsace stores for an undisclosed fee.
According to media reports, French competition authorities gave the green light for the deal to go ahead on 6 March, and the stores officially traded hands over the past few days.
In October 2013, Coop Alsace announced that it had entered into exclusive talks with Carrefour to sell between 100 - 144 stores.
"This is a significant transaction in terms of the level of investment. It allows backup network proximity and the maintenance of jobs with the transfer of 452 employees," Coop Alsace said in a statement back in January.
French retail magazine LSA say that less than half of the 128 Coop Alsace stores will switch to either the Carrefour City or Carrefour Express branding.
Carrefour was preferred to one of its primary rivals, the Casino Group, which had earlier in the year also been involved in acquisition talks with Coop Alsace.
The Strasbourg-based Coop Alsace was close to filing for bankruptcy in 2011 and committed instead to a major restructuring. The Group faces debts worth €140 million and has recorded consecutive annual losses of up to €25 million since 2008.
Casino Group themselves announced late last year that they have reached an agreement with Co-Normandy Picardy Mutant to buy 47 stores in the south west of France and to pass 90 others located in Normandy and Picardy to Leader Price.
© 2014 - European Supermarket Magazine by Enda Dowling
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