PARIS-Carrefour SA has joined a group of institutional investors to buy 127 European shopping malls for around $2.75 billion (2 billion-euro). The deal is designed to give the retailer more control of the sites around its supermarkets, according to a report from Bloomberg News.
The purchase from Klepierre SA adds malls totaling about 5.1 million square feet in France, Spain and Italy. French-based Carrefour will have a 42% stake in a company that combines the sites with 45 malls it owns in its home market.
Carrefour is investing in real estate as part of efforts to make its largest store format more attractive to consumers amid competition from online shopping and stores in downtown centers. Carrefour's third-quarter French sales rose for the first time in more than two years as a turnaround effort gained traction.
The retailer, France's largest, is focusing on Europe, Latin America and China after retrenching from markets where it viewed its prospects as weak.
Net rental income from all the sites, including the 45 malls Carrefour is placing in the new company, amounts to $236 million, (172 million euros) the company's CEO said at a conference call with reporters. Carrefout had $139 billion (101.3 billion euros) in revenue last year.
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