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Carrefour supermarkets in Italy will soon be in the hands of Italian food multinational NewPrinces Spa, who announced the roughly one billion euro purchase on Thursday.
The NewPrinces group owns the Plasmon, Centrale del Latte, Giglio, Polenghi Lombardo and Delverde food manufacturing brands, among others.
The acquisition of approximately one thousand shops now requires authorisation from the relevant authorities, with a view to closing by the end of the year with Carrefour Nederland Bv and Carrefour Sa.
With this transaction, the Reggio Emilia-based company reaches a potential turnover of 11 billion euros, becoming the second-largest Italian group in the food sector by turnover and the largest operator in terms of employment, with 13,000 employees in Italy and more than 18,000 worldwide, as well as 11,000 in related industries.
“The acquisition of Carrefour Italia represents a fundamental step in the growth trajectory of our Group,” said NewPrinces Group Chairman Angelo Mastrolia, “with this operation, we take a decisive step towards vertical integration between production and distribution, strengthening our ability to generate value along the entire supply chain.”
NewPrinces may decide to relaunch the Gs supermarket brand and rename the stores after three years. The food retailer was founded in Italy in the 1960s and was replaced by Carrefour stores in 2010.
Unrest proclaimed among Carrefour workers
After the news of the takeover, the trade unions Filcams CGIL, Fisascat Cisl and Uiltucs declared a state of strike due to Carrefour Italy’s failure to respond regarding the workers’ prospects.
The unions have asked for a meeting at the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy to ‘review the recovery plan’, which is expected to include brand and development investments totalling more than €400 million between the seller and buyer.
Minister Adolfo Urso expressed his “appreciation for an operation that strengthens Made in Italy,” confirming that he will soon meet both Mastrolia and the unions.
The French newspaper Les Echos commented on the news, writing that Carrefour ‘removes a thorn from its foot’, as its Italian operations were recording annual losses of €180 million.
Carrefour president, Alexandre Bompard, assured the newspaper that he was leaving “Carrefour Italy in good financial condition.”
