Carrefour in Talks to Buy Malls

By Nadya Masidlover 

French retailer Carrefour SA said late Thursday that it is in talks with property company Klepierre SA to buy a portfolio of malls, as the company pursues its efforts to draw customers back to stores across Europe.

The announcement comes as Carrefour is gaining traction in its business at home after years of declining consumer appetite for the company's signature hypermarkets. The purchase of the shopping malls, in which Carrefour operates its supermarkets and hypermarkets, would allow the company to regain a hold over the shopping environment, boosting the effort to entice Europe's thrifty consumers.

A deal with Klepierre would partially reverse a 2000 transaction under which Carrefour sold 150 malls to the French property company to cut debt.

In a statement, Carrefour said that an agreement with Klepierre hasn't yet been reached. A company spokeswoman declined to disclose further details on the matter.

The release by Europe's largest retailer follows an earlier report by French daily Le Figaro, saying that it is in talks to buy more than 100 malls in France, Spain and Italy from Klepierre for 1.7 billion euros ($2.28 billion).

Write to Nadya Masidlover at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 10, 2017 09:50 ET (13:50 GMT)

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