Carrefour faces tough choices to fund revival
World No 2 retailer Carrefour may need to raise up to €3bn ($3.7bn) to fund a revival plan for its struggling European hypermarkets, but tight finances and dire economic times leave its new boss with hard choices.
Having pulled out of recession-hit Greece in June, Carrefour could quit more non-strategic countries such as Turkey, Indonesia or Poland to free up cash.
But in tough times, disposals could take too long, so CEO Georges Plassat could be weighing alternative solutions to fund a turnaround, such as a partial listing of its emerging-market businesses, notably profitable Latin America.
“Restructuring the group will be an extremely challenging and costly process,” Natixis analyst Pierre-Edouard Boudot said. “Carrefour’s finances are already stretched, so the turnaround plan will have to be financed using outside resources.”
Source: www.gulf-times.com
