Brazilian tycoon Abilio Diniz is now the fourth largest investor in France’s biggest retailer and one of the world’s largest hypersupermarkets, Carrefour SA. Diniz has invested $1 billion in several portions to buy as much as 3% of the company. Sources, such as Valor Econômico, claim that three banks may have made this billion dollar investment upon Diniz’s command.
Interestingly, Diniz stepped down last year as chairman of GPA SA, Carrefour’s archrival in Brazil. There were previous rumors that Diniz and a group of investors were considering buying a stake in Carrefour’s Brazilian unit, according to Reuters. In 2011, Diniz, under Casino Guichard Perrachon & Cie, which currently controls GPA, was reportedly in merger talks with Carrefour. Casino wouldn’t approve of a deal in which Carrefour would have gotten a stake in GPA. Instead, Casino was planning to take control of the retailer under a previous shareholder agreement with Diniz.Reuters reports that Carrefour would rather sell a stake than list the company in Brazil. Analysts also tell Reuters that the purchase may indicate that Diniz wants to make a bigger splash as a shareholder of Carrefour than a relevant partner of the Brazilian business. Apparently, Diniz may be hoping to gain management rights from Carrefour in order to revamp the Brazilian unit.
While there’s questions abound as to what Diniz may be planning with this latest investment, it’ll be interesting to see how this story will develop.
Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow as we follow this continuing story.
