Breakingviews - Bernard Arnault’s farewell to Carrefour is overdue
founder this week sold his remaining 5.7% stake in the 13 billion euro Gallic grocer, at one-third the likely price he paid back in 2007. It’s a rare miss for the luxury billionaire. But with supermarkets barely growing and the French government’s opposition to takeovers, moving on makes sense.
Arnault’s Carrefour exit looks painful. His vehicle Agache reaped 724 million euros from the sale, fetching a price of 16 euros per share. That’s a far cry from the average price of 47 euros Arnault probably paid in 2007 to acquire a 9.8% stake alongside Colony Capital and Axon Capital, according to Reuters. Agache first started selling the stake about a year ago, when Carrefour shares were trading at around 13 euros.
The loss-making move is rare for Arnault, who has become the third-richest man in the world after building a 321 billion euro luxury conglomerate. Yet grocers face bigger challenges than swanky high-end retailers. Carrefour’s sales should grow at an anaemic 3.5% compound annual growth rate between now and 2023, Refinitiv data shows.
. While Chief Executive Alexandre Bompard is cutting costs and gradually winning market share, the stock won’t recover to its 2007 level any time soon: analysts have a target price for the company of just 19.80 euros, according to Refinitiv data. Holding on could make sense if Carrefour were likely to be a takeover target. After all, UK peer Wm Morrison Supermarkets
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