Colruyt receives firm offer from Carrefour at €152M for its Codifrance subsidiary
Ten days after the opening of exclusive negotiations, the Belgian retailer now has a formalized purchase commitment from Carrefour on its French wholesale trading subsidiary. However, the final decision remains with Colruyt: it will only come after consultation with employee representatives, and the operation must still receive approval from the French competition authorities.
A purchase promise from Carrefour, a sale option for Colruyt
Colruyt Group announced on October 19, 2026 that it received, on October 16, a firm offer from Carrefour concerning the potential sale of Codifrance, its wholesale trading business in France. The proposed price amounts to 152 million euros, payable in cash. The offer takes the form of a unilateral purchase promise granted by Carrefour, which Colruyt Group accepted solely as an offer, through a sale option agreement.
The mechanism distributes commitments asymmetrically. Carrefour is committed to purchasing if Colruyt Group exercises its option, while the Belgian group retains the freedom to exercise it or not. At this stage, no sale has been signed: the transaction remains envisioned and depends on several successive steps.
The first concerns social dialogue. The representatives of the employees concerned will be informed and consulted on the transaction, and Colruyt Group will make its decision to exercise or not the sale option at the end of this procedure. This schedule is explained by French social law, which requires this consultation before any definitive commitment to sell.
The second condition is regulatory. Even in the event of option exercise, the transaction would remain subject to authorization by the French competition authorities. The group anticipates completion during the first half of 2027, which leaves several months between the offer received and the effective transfer of Codifrance.
Codifrance will shift to discontinued operations from fiscal year 2026/27
Codifrance achieved revenue of approximately 310 million euros during fiscal year 2025/26. The offer amount concerns the sale price of the activity, not its revenue: the two figures are distinct. For reference, Colruyt Group recorded revenue of 10.6 billion euros over the same fiscal year and employs more than 31,000 people.
If the sale materializes, it should generate a net positive one-off effect at the time of completion. This gain would be presented on the "discontinued operations result" line in the consolidated income statement, separate from the group's current operational performance.
The accounting treatment evolves from the current fiscal year. The operating results of the French wholesale trading business will be presented as discontinued operations in the consolidated accounts of fiscal year 2026/27. Fiscal year 2025/26 will be restated accordingly, solely for comparability purposes, in the consolidated income statement of the following fiscal year.
For readers of the accounts, this presentation has a concrete consequence: the aggregates published for continuing operations will no longer include Codifrance, and year-on-year comparisons will be made on this restated scope.
A refocus on food and health following negotiations on October 9
The firm offer follows the announcement of October 9, 2026, the date on which Colruyt Group entered into exclusive negotiations with Carrefour with a view to the potential sale of Codifrance. This announcement came a few months after the group's sale of its integrated food distribution activities in France.
To justify the transaction, Colruyt Group states that Codifrance operates in a segment with structural growth and that it is profitable. According to the group, continuing its development in a consolidating French market would, however, require significant managerial attention, a change in scale and additional investments, which Carrefour would be able to provide.
Chief Executive Officer Stefan Goethaert clarified the strategic objective: this step "would enable Colruyt Group to focus more on its strategic priorities as a food and health products distributor".
