Carrefour exiting Russia
16 October 2009
Having only recently opened its first two hypermarkets in Moscow and Krasnodar, Carrefour has decided to sell its operations and withdraw from Russia. The decision was taken after Carrefour posted a 2.9% drop in third-quarter sales. Carrefour said in a statement that it has decided to sell the business due to lack of prospects for organic growth and opportunities for acquisitions that do not allow the company to become a market leader in the short and medium term. In the last 12 months, Carrefour was negotiating with some leading Russian retailers, such as St Petersburg-based Lenta and Moscow-based retailer Sedmoi Kontinent, about a possible acquisition but no deal was closed.