Suning Acquisition of Carrefour Going through Anti-Monopoly Review
On the evening of August 26, Suning.com announced that it had received the Decision on No Further Examination in relation to Concentration of Business Operators and Anti-monopoly Examination from the State Administration for Market Regulation that: “No further examination shall be carried out on the case of Suning Holdings Group Co. Ltd. acquiring shares of Carrefour China Holdings.” This means that the acquisition of Carrefour by Suning.com will enter the stage of implementation after going through the anti-monopoly review.
On June 23, Suning.com announced that it would buy 80% of Carrefour China’s shares. According to the announcement, Suning International, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Suning.com, intended to invest 4.8 billion Yuan in the acquisition of 80% of Carrefour China. After the completion of this transaction, Suning.com will become the controlling shareholder of Carrefour China, and Carrefour Group’s share-holding ratio will be reduced to 20%. Carrefour China said that Carrefour Group will retain two of the seven seats on the Carrefour China board of supervisors, and the transaction is expected to be completed by the end of 2019.
On June 27, reporters from Beijing Business Today learned from various sources that Tang Jianian, the current chairman and CEO of Carrefour China, has resigned and will remain on his post in China until this autumn. The transition between Carrefour China and Suning team is under way. The departure Tang Jianian and the subsequent changes also mean that Suning has officially become the owner of Carrefour. Carrefour China responded to the Beijing Business Today reporter that Tang Jianian would remain in China until this autumn and would be responsible for the transition. The appointment of the successor would be announced later.
The transaction means that Carrefour, the first retailer to introduce the “hypermarket” mode to mainland China through joint venture, will soon withdraw from the Chinese market. It also marks the official entry of Suning into the traditional commercial supermarket field. For Suning, the acquisition of Carrefour means a further step towards a comprehensive retailer of all categories and full scenarios, but the practical problems of team resource integration and store renovation will require a digestive process.
August 27, 2019
Source: Beijing Business Today
Photo from: 699pic.com
