Exit from Taiwan lifts shares of French company Carrefour

PARIS (Reuters) – Shares in French food retailer Carrefour rose 3% on Wednesday after it agreed to sell its remaining 60% stake in its Taiwan business, sparking hopes among some investors it could use the extra firepower to buy back shares.

By 0702 GMT, Carrefour shares were up 3.01% at 17.48 euros.

The transaction, which values Carrefour Taiwan at an enterprise value of 2.0 billion euros, is set to be completed by mid-2023, the French company said in a statement.

“This is at a better price than originally speculated (which was 1.6 billion euros back in August 2021) given an estimated enterprise value of 2 billion (for 100% of the business),” wrote brokerage Jefferies.

“A mid-2023 completion should provide the firepower for another, sizeable share buyback. We estimate an earnings accretion in the mid single digit region,” they added.

(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)