On the 21st November The French Competition Authority authorised the Carrefour group to buy Spanish group Dia’s French activities, i.e. 750 stores.
In June 2014 the French retail group announced their €600 million offer to buy the hard discount food stores.
However the competition authority has laid out numerous conditions to validate the purchase : Carrefour must surrender 50 Dia stores and end franchise contracts that currently concern 6 stores. Carrefour may not acquire or franchise the stores that they are divesting.
In a press release published by the Competition Authority, they explain that “these measures will help to maintain a balanced competitive situation by removing the extra market shares created by the acquisition of Dia and will ensure the consumers who are affected, a competitive and diverse offering for their food shopping”.