Carrefour has ended months of speculation by announcing it will exit the Indian market. In a brief statement posted on the company’s global website, the French-based retail giant confirmed it will close its five cash and carry stores in the Asian nation by September 2014.
Carrefour entered the Indian market in 2010 and had been in negotiations with Indian-based firm Bharti Enterprises about a potential buyout earlier this year.
When talks with Bharti collapsed, reports emerged that multinational retail rival Walmart was interested in acquiring at least three of Carrefour’s Indian stores. Walmart India’s vice-president of corporate affairs, Rajneesh Kumar, quickly quashed the rumors, labeling them “baseless and untrue.”
While consultancy firm Technopak Advisors estimated India’s multi-brand retail sector to be worth US$865bn by 2023, multinational retailers have taken a cautious approach to the market, due largely to a requirement for them to open supermarkets under a joint-venture with an Indian partner. To date, UK-based Tesco is the only foreign-owned retail chain to commitment to such an arrangement, partnering with the Tata Group.
Walmart, Metro and Carrefour all operate under cash and carry arrangements, under which consumers require an approved membership to make a purchase.
