<p>Brazilian tycoon Abilio Diniz is now the <B>fourth largest investor</b> in France’s biggest retailer and one of the world’s largest hypersupermarkets, Carrefour SA. Diniz has invested <B>$1 billion</b> in several portions to buy as much as <B>3% of the company</b>. Sources, such as Valor Econômico, claim that three banks may have made this billion dollar investment upon Diniz’s command.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><img class="small-cropped-image" src="https://cdn.andnowuknow.com/legacySmallCroppedImages/carrefour051514bdy.jpg" alt="cropped_image_051214" />Interestingly, Diniz <B>stepped down</b> 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 <B>wouldn’t approve of a deal</b> 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.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">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 <B>bigger splash</b> as a shareholder of Carrefour than a relevant partner of the Brazilian business. Apparently, Diniz may be hoping to gain <B>management rights</b> from Carrefour in order to revamp the Brazilian unit.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> 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.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"> Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow as we follow this continuing story.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href=" http://www.carrefour.com" target="_new"> Carrefour </a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
