Carrefour has acquired prime internet retailer Rue du Commerce following a ruling by the European Union’s competition authority which judged the takeover legal on the grounds that the businesses’ sectors of trading are sufficiently diverse from one another for the sale to take place, telecompaper.com reports.
Carrefour, it is expected, will use the newly acquired internet channel to leverage its presence in non-food trading. This will include furniture, electronics, DIY equipment, and possibly gardening utensils, which are all important in supermarket trading in France, and stocked by all of its leading FMCG chains.
It is from Altarea Cogedim, the Parisian real estate firm, that Carrefour will purchase Rue du Commerce. The site attracts just under five million people per month, and generated €428 million in sales last year.
It is anticipated the deal will be formalised in the early months of 2016.
© 2015 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Peter Donnelly. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
