French supermarket group Carrefour has finalised the acquisition Cora and Match banners in France from the Louis Delhaize group.

The 60 Cora hypermarkets and 115 Match stores are located in the east and north of France where Carrefour has historically had little presence. The new stores represent around 2.4 per cent of the food distribution market share in France and have an enterprise value of around €1.05 billion.

Carrefour obtained a waiver from the French Competition Authority to finalise the transaction and the authority must still decide whether it needs to take any action by the quarter of 2025. Carrefour said the competition issues are “limited” and customers will benefit from the merger.

The supermarket claims the deal could mean EBITDA of around €130 million by 2027 thanks to cost optimisation, mutual marketing costs and an improved performance od stores.

The new shops will be integrated before the end of 2024 with Carrefour products available at Cora and Match stores from September. Around 22,000 employees will join Carrefour as a part of the acquisition.

Alexandre Bompard, chairman and chief executive of the Carrefour Group, said that the acquisition was the supermarket’s largest operation in France for more than 20 years.

“With the acquisition of the Cora and Match banners, Carrefour is carrying out its largest operation in France in more than twenty years and is consolidating its leadership in food distribution on its domestic market.

“Cora and Match bring quality, profitable assets to Carrefour that are highly complementary to the existing portfolio, and will in return benefit from our strong brand equity, from the power of our private label products, and from our growth in e-commerce,” he said.

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