HONG KONG - French retailer Carrefour plans to launch a sale of its Taiwan business, valued at around 1.6 billion euros in the coming weeks, three people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
The supermarket chain operator has hired Morgan Stanley to help run the sale, which is expected to kick off after the summer, said the people, who declined to be identified as the information is confidential.
Carrefour approached a number of potential buyers, including private equity firms, to gauge their interest, the people said.
The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Morgan Stanley declined to comment.
The largest retailers said in June that it had started considering possible consolidation, divestitures or tie-ups of its foreign subsidiaries but denied any assets had been sold.
Carrefour bought Worldcome Taiwan from the dairy farmer in December, making it the number 2 player in Taiwan's convenience stores market. The transaction with an enterprise value of 97 million euros covers the purchase of 224 locations as well as a warehouse.
Carrefour reported 1.26 billion euros in Tungsten net sales in the first half, up 13% year on year at constant exchange rates. The company said the newly acquired Wellcome stores strongly outperformed.
However, in recent years Carrefour retreated from the highly competitive Chinese market by selling 80% of its loss-making operations https: www.reuters.com article Carrefour-ma to electronics retailer Suning.com - IdUSL 8 N 23 U 0 B 6