The sale of Carrefour’s assets in Argentina continues to add contradictions and cross-accusations between all sides of this story that does not seem to have a transparent ending at the moment.
In fact, all eyes and criticism point to the performance of the bank chosen by the French group to transfer Carrefour Argentina to another operator.
That is, Deutsche Bank, which would have beaten Santander to become the financial entity authorized to sell a chain of 80 hypermarkets, 80 markets, 35 wholesalers and 450 Express models, as well as its own financial entity as a financial services bank, an employee network of 17,000 employees, operations in 110 municipalities and a market position of 21.1%.
After a selection process that began last July, the German-origin bank drew up a “shortlist” of three contenders, consisting of Francisco de Narvaez; Alfredo Couto and the Clough Real Estate Fund.
In this way, the owner of Changomas; The owner of the chain bearing his last name and the North American group that operates the Tienda Inglesa chain in Uruguay have been selected for the final round of the process.
Francisco de Narváez dreams of staying at Carrefour
The final step that had to be completed before the winner was announced was to send the financial offer to Carrefour’s headquarters in Massy, in the Paris metropolitan area, at 93 Avenue in that country’s capital.
The deadline for compliance with this requirement was set by Deutsche Bank last November 18 at 5:00 p.m. In Argentina.
On that day, the German financial institution revealed that no offers had been received and, on the contrary, had requested more information regarding Carrefour Argentina’s operations and finances.
However, surprisingly, de Narvaez’s financial offer was leaked to some local media as a way to put pressure on the selection process.
According to these versions, The businessman had offered $1,000 million US dollars to stay with Carrefour Argentina by sending an email around the closing of the deadline for receiving offers which was last November 18 by Deutsche Bank.
After these statements, anger against Deutsche Bank increased. “Clumsy”, “slow”, “improvised” were some of the epithets heard after this announcement from those who know the details of one of the most important business operations of recent years in Argentina.
Other voices went further and asserted that the deal was “completely closed,” ending with one of the three competing groups crowning their intentions at the expense of the offers of the other two groups.
In this case we refer to Proposal by Francisco de Narváezwhen it was speculated that the businessman liquidated his cash offer knowing that neither Coto nor the North American Fund would be able to match his cash contribution.
Leverage solved
In fact, the two groups requested an extension to do the same thing that was supposed, in principle, to be set for next December 15, the month in which the major supermarket chains focus their attention on the end-of-year holidays, taking into account that it is the period that allows them to accumulate 40% of the turnover for the entire year.
In this context, those who are already closely following the deal They consider the owner of Changomás to be “the person chosen” by Carrefour to seal its departure from Argentina.
They even expect the process to become official in the next few hours, although deadlines for Coto and Klaff Realty to submit their economic proposals have also been extended.
If this happens, de Narvaez will have already resolved the issue of the financial leverage to fulfill the $1,000,000 payment. Part of it will be fueled by the money he will receive from selling all his assets in Uruguay.
Next door, the company is negotiating the sale of Ta-Ta, a major retail chain that operates through a network of hypermarkets, hypermarkets, discount stores, specialty stores and its own e-commerce platform.
There is already a signed letter of intent with the Paraguayan group Versi, which already has a presence in several countries in the region, such as Brazil, Uruguay, Panama, Bolivia, Chile, Peru and even in the United States.
It will also divest the San Roque pharmacy chain and clothing company Bass, which operates independently, but whose balance sheets are presented jointly with those of the Ta Ta Group.
In the past few hours, Uruguayan media have reported the presence of a group from that country that has also shown interest in seizing De Narváez’s companies.
Eduardo Elstein and Manuel Antelo: Yesentertainment weight
But this deal will only bring about 150 million US dollars to the businessman, who will raise the rest of the money thanks to a series of loans signed with a local and foreign bank, and the contribution of two businessmen who are friends and with whom he already has business.
One is Eduardo Elstein And the other Manuel Antelo. In the case of the owner of IRSA, it has already signed a commitment to purchase assets from Carrefour Argentina with the aim of converting those rooftops into real estate projects.
Meanwhile, Antelo will do the same.
Currently, the chain led by De Narváez operates 92 stores in different formats in 21 provinces and in the federal capital, but its most important presence is in the province of Buenos Aires, where it has 31 stores, including hyper and super formats, but it also has a large market in other provinces such as Mendoza (5 stores), Tucuman (5), Cordoba (6), Río Negro (4) and Salta (4).
But if he is elected by the European Community Board of Directors, he will add all of Carrefour’s assets in the country and will control the gondola giant, which will occupy about 29% of the market; It will employ 39,000 people and operate nearly 800 branches.
Although such a merger would inevitably impose intervention by the regulatory authorities of the national government, the unification of the two groups would not violate competition or monopoly regulations.
Competitive advantages
In addition, De Narváez is negotiating with Carrefour’s parent company to maintain use of the brand in Argentina, unlike what it did when it bought Walmart, in 2020, where it faces a one-year transition process until changing the name Changomás.
In this sense, current data shows that the leader is Cotto with a share of 22.3%; Followed by Carrefour Argentina with 21%; While in third place, Senkosud appears at 17%; La Anonema, 12.5%; Day by 9% and Changomás by 8.7%.
Another advantage she enjoys is related to the supposed support for her proposal that she would have received from the Trade Federation led by Armando Cavalieri, who in turn would have poor relations with the Trade Federation led by Armando Cavalieri. Alfredo Cotto.
Moreover, when it won the battle against other local interested parties, including the investment fund Inverlat y Coto, and acquired Walmart’s local assets, it did so in an orderly manner and at the speed with which the North American group at the time demanded it leave Argentina.
By not being in that business at the time, she allowed the process to be completed without legal cracks and within the period required by Walmart’s parent company to initiate and complete the asset and brand transfer.
The board of directors of the French group seeks the same thing, that its exit from the Argentine market does not lead to a conflict with the national government; It can be completed quickly and quickly enough to leave the country at the beginning of 2026.
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