Carrefour and Alimentation Couche-Tard explore new lines of co-operation in areas such as private label and fuels

Although the French government has put the brakes on the proposed takeover of Carrefour by the Canadian group Alimentation Couche-Tard for around 20 billion dollars, citing, among other reasons, the country’s food sovereignty, negotiations between the two distribution groups are continuing with new objectives on the table. A joint statement issued by the retail chains last Saturday said that “the preliminary discussions on a transaction, taking into account all interested parties, initiated between Carrefour and the Alimentation Couche-Tard group, following an amicable approach by the latter, have come to an end in light of recent events”. The two retail groups have, however, decided to extend negotiations in order to build possible operational partnerships, giving as examples of areas of cooperation “the exploration of best practices in the fuel business and innovation in improving the customer shopping journey, the pooling of purchase volumes, partnerships in private labels and the search for new ways to optimise the distribution of products in common networks,” the document reads.