Carrefour announces a simplified public offer for Hyparlo
The offer follows the strengthening of the partnership between Carrefour and Hyparlo announced in January 2005.
23/12/05 Carrefour has announced a simplified public offer for all the outstanding shares in Hyparlo at a price of €39.22 per share.
The offer follows the strengthening of the partnership between Carrefour and Hyparlo announced in January 2005. At that time, Carrefour took a 50% stake in Hofidis ll, which owns 57.7% of Hyparlo, in addition to its existing 20% direct holding in the company, which remained unchanged.
On the 13th September 2005, the Court of Appeal in Paris decided that a full offer should be made for the entire share capital of Hyparlo in conjunction with the Arlaud family.
Before the offer, on the 20th December 2005, Carrefour acquired, at an agreed price of €39.22 for each Hyparlo share, the participation in Hofidis ll of the Arlaud family, which has decided it will not participate in the public offer. This transaction is subject to approval from the competition authorities. These two transactions represent a maximum investment for Carrefour of €320m if all Hyparlo shares are tendered to the offer. While strengthening its leadership position in France with the integration of 12 hypermarkets principally in the Rhône-Alpes region, Carrefour acquires control of a new engine for growth, offering attractive prospects for development, with the integration of 5 hypermarkets in Romania. Hyparlo Group’s sales including VAT were € 1.3bn* in 2004.
This operation reinforces the consistent strategy of the Group to focus its efforts and resources on markets which offer strong potential or in which it occupies a market leading position.