French supermarket Carrefour denies making an offer for rival Casino
French supermarket Casino has claimed it has rejected an offer from rival Carrefour, though Carrefour has denied ever making a bid for the firm.
Casino released a statement last night that said its board had unanimously rejected an approach from the retail giant due to potential conflicts over employment and competition.
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Carrefour, which is one of Europe's largest supermarkets and partnered with Tesco earlier this year, countered that Casino's statement was "[u]nacceptable", and that it did not suggest a merger between the stores.
“The board unanimously reiterated its entire confidence in Casino’s strategy for value creation based on its unique market positioning,” Casino said in a statement to Reuters.
“The board of directors also acknowledged the barriers, in France and in Brazil, to a combination with Carrefour, especially in terms of competition and employment. The board unanimously decided to reject Carrefour’s approach,” added Casino.
However, in a statement Carrefour said: "The difficulties faced by Casino and its controlling shareholder may not justify untimely, misleading and groundless communications.
"Carrefour denies having solicited Casino and is surprised that Casino's board of directors would have submitted a merger proposal that does not exist.
"Focused on the implementation of its 2022 transformation plan, Carrefour is reviewing its legal options in order to stop these [u]nacceptable innuendoes."
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