Carrefour to divest stake in Indonesian supermarket chain to CT Corp for $673 mn

Carrefour SA today agreed to sell its 60-per cent stake in Indonesian supermarket operations to local joint venture partner CT Corp for €525 million ($673 million), the latest divesture by France's biggest retail chain as it allocates resources to mature countries where it occupies strong and established positions.

The Indonesian chain is Carrefour's second-biggest in Asia after China by number of stores and the third-largest in the country with 84 stores, of which 70 are hypermarkets.

Under the deal, CT Corp, controlled by Indonesian businessman Chairul Tanjung, will take full control of the unit, which had revenue of €1 billion in 2011, and Carrefour will become a franchisee.

Hit by consumer spending in Europe, Boulogne-Billancourt-based Carrefour, the world's second-biggest retailer after Walmart, said that the sale is part of its strategy to pull out of non-core markets.

Last month, it agreed to sell its Colombian assets to Chile's Cencosud for €2 billion ($2.62 billion) and its Malaysian operations to Japan's Aeon Co for €250 million ($324 million).

It also pulled out of recession-hit Greece in July due to slumping sales, and plans to shut its Singapore unit by year-end, and is reviewing the operations of its Polish and Turkish units.

Carrefour is likely to use the sale proceeds to reduce its debt, which stood at €6.9-billion at the end of 2011.