Bharti Group, the owner of India's largest mobile operator by revenue and subscribers, is reportedly in advanced talks to form a cash-and-carry joint venture with French retailer Carrefour, having broken off its six-year strategic partnership with the world's largest retail company Walmart Stores Inc. in October of last year.
The Indian company will retain a majority stake, two people familiar with the matter told the Economic Times.
"Bharti is likely to have a significant majority that could be around 74% stake in the joint venture," one said.
"Bharti has already signed an exclusivity agreement with Carrefour for negotiations that will expire in July. However, both sides are expected to consummate the deal sometime this month or early May," the other person said.
French media outlets have also been covering the story in great detail over the past 24 hours. Boursier.com and Le Figaro both report that Japanese company Aeon, once rumored to be involved in a proposed retail tie-up with Bharti and Carrefour, have been frozen out of negotiations.
© 2014 - European Supermarket Magazine by Enda Dowling
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