MAF buys Carrefour stake for Dh2.5bn

Published Thursday, May 23, 2013

By Staff/Reuters

Majid Al Futtaim Holding yesterday announced the purchase of the 25 per cent minority stake owned by Carrefour Group in Majid Al Futtaim Hypermarkets for €530 million (Dh2.5 billion).

The two groups also strengthened their exclusive franchise partnership by extending its time horizon and expanding its scope.

Partners since 1995, Majid Al Futtaim operates 50 hypermarkets and 44 supermarkets under the Carrefour brand in several countries in the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia.

Under the agreement signed today, Majid Al Futtaim will own 100 per cent of Majid Al Futtaim Hypermarkets’ shares. The exclusive franchise partnership with the Carrefour Group is renewed until 2025 and extended to new formats and new countries.

Majid Al Futtaim sees this as a strategic transaction driving long-term growth, with its demonstrated expertise and track record to develop the brand successfully, and will keep and strengthen the strategic partnership with Carrefour in new countries and new formats.

Closing of the transaction is subject to approval by the relevant authorities.

MAF picks banks for hybrid bond sale

Majid Al Futtaim (MAF) has picked five banks to arrange the sale of a dollar-denominated hybrid bond, a document from lead arrangers showed.

The sale of perpetual hybrid bond - which combines elements of both debt and equity - is to fund MAF's $683 million acquisition of Carrefour's 25-per cent stake in a joint venture in the Middle East, sources told Reuters on Wednesday.

Family-owned MAF has picked Goldman Sachs and HSBC Holdings as "joint structuring advisors" on the planned sale, together with BofA Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan and Standard Chartered Bank as joint bookrunners.

Investor meetings for the planned sale begin on May 26 and is scheduled to take place in the UAE, Asia and Europe.

MAF is the only investment-grade private corporation in the Gulf to have previously issued bonds.

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