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The French supermarket giant, present in China since 1995, has sold 80% of its local subsidiary Carrefour China Chinese group Suning.com. The transaction is expected to earn Carrefour 620 million euros, enough to absorb some of its losses in China.
In 2017, the group had an operating loss of 72 million euros and 32 million euros last year.
The French distributor missed the transition to digital , while local competitors like Alibaba offered online sales of thousands of products, including food with same-day home delivery.
Last year's partnership between Carrefour and Tencent, the social networking giant, was not enough to keep Carrefour in the running. For French, it's the end of the Chinese dream.
Arrived 24 years ago, he had established 210 hypermarkets and twenty mini markets. However, Carrefour will continue its activity in China. Its buyer Suning.com, a distribution giant and specialist in household appliances, has nearly 9,000 stores in 700 Chinese cities and is also the third largest platform in the country. An opportunity for Carrefour, which will become its main supplier of food and retail products.
Carrefour will hold 20% of the new entity and will retain two seats out of seven on Carrefour China's supervisory board, with the option of selling its remaining stake in Suning.com over the next few years.