The entrance to the Carrefour hypermarket in Villeneuve-la-Garenne near Paris, France, March 29, 2023. THOMAS SAMSON / AFP
At Carrefour, one family has replaced another. The French retailer revealed on Wednesday, November 12, that the Saadé family, owners of the Marseille-based shipping giant CMA CGM, had taken a 4% stake in the company, representing an asset investment of less than €400 million. The move makes the Saadé family the second-largest shareholder in the company, behind the Moulin-Houzé family, owners of the Galeries Lafayette department store, who hold 9.5% of its shares. Rodolphe Saadé, CEO of CMA CGM, will join Carrefour's board of directors as an independent director on December 1.
The arrival of the Saadé family partly makes up for the withdrawal of Peninsula, the holding company of Brazilian billionaire Abilio Diniz, who died in February 2024, and whose heirs have not kept their desire to disengage a secret.
The retailer announced that the process was complete in a statement on Wednesday. Peninsula did not renew contracts related to derivative products that had given it an approximately 8.5% stake in Carrefour. The holding company's two representatives have resigned from the board of directors as a result.
