The Carrefour distribution group announced this Tuesday an agreement to repurchase 25 million shares from the company Galfa owned by the Moulin family, owner of Galeries Lafayette, which will thus cede its place as largest shareholder.
This transaction, which is part of a 700 million euro share buyback program from Carrefour for 2024, represents “
around 3.5% of its capital
”, the distributor indicated in a press release.
Around 9:35 a.m., Carrefour shares lost 2.94%, to 15.53 euros, in a stable market.
“Following the transaction, Galfa’s stake in Carrefour will represent 7.71% of the capital and 13.3% of the voting rights
,” according to the press release.
At the end of 2022, the Moulin family, via the Motier group, the holding company which manages its holdings, held 13.73% of the capital and 17.5% of the “
real voting rights
”.
“
We do not plan to further reduce our stake in Carrefour and today reaffirm our support for the company
,” assured Philippe Houzé, vice-president of Motier and vice-chairman of the board of directors of Carrefour, quoted in the distributor's press release.
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“
Since its entry into the capital of Carrefour in 2014, 10 years ago, Motier has always positioned itself as a long-term shareholder, fully convinced of the relevance of the strategy led by Alexandre Bompard, its chairman and CEO, with the support of all the teams
,” underlined Philippe Houzé.
“
This operation, which allows us to accelerate our share buybacks under favorable conditions for all stakeholders, illustrates the friendly and trusting relations between Carrefour and Motier, whom we thank for their continued support
,” declared his next to Alexandre Bompard.
The sale price of the 25 million shares is 365 million euros, the distributor said in its press release.
With this transaction, the Moulin family will become the second shareholder of the Carrefour group behind Peninsula, the holding company of Brazilian billionaire Abilio Diniz, who died in mid-February, which owned 8.83% of Carrefour shares at the end of 2022.