Carrefour rolled out a press release this Sunday stating its agreement to sell a major chunk of its Chinese operations, amounting to 80 per cent stake, to Suning.com for the sum of 1.4 billion euros.
This strategic change was made to tap the opportunity of developing the Carrefour name in the huge Chinese market.
“The strong complementarity between Carrefour China and Suning.com’s activities will accelerate the development of Carrefour China,” the retailer said in the statement.
The French company hasn’t given away its entire foothold, as it will keep the leftover 20 per cent stake in the business along with two seats on the supervisory board.
Operating via 210 hypermarkets and 24 convenience stores in the country, Carrefour entered China in 1995 and has recorded sales worth 3.6 billion euros last year. This makes the company a good investment for Suning.com, which is one of China’s biggest retailers, with nearly 9,000 stores spread across more than 700 cities.
It boasts of third largest B2C e-commerce platform in China.
In order to adapt to the rise of e-commerce and dynamic consumer habits that lead consumers to go for convenience stores in city centres, Carrefour is undergoing a broad overhaul of operations and processes under the leader of its CEO Alexandre Bompard. It was the first retailer to introduce big-box-style stores in the Sixties where people could find everything from washing machines to bread under one roof.
Bharat Tex Special Report 2026 
