Shareholders of the world’s number two food retailer Carrefour have voted to restructure the group’s supervisory board, adding representatives of the company’s second-largest stakeholder.
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US private equity firm Colony Capital and Groupe Arnault, the holding company of French billionaire Bernard Arnault, acquired a 9.1% stake in the company in March. Their investment caused share value to rise on the back of rumours that the group would come under increasing to pressure to sell-off some of its real estate assets, increasing shareholder returns.
At the annual meeting, shareholders approved the appointment of Sebastien Bazin, head of Colony Capital Europe, and Nicolas Bazire, Arnault’s advisor, to the supervisory board.
However, shareholders also offered support to the Halley family, Carrefour’s largest shareholder, through the nomination of Robert Halley as chairman and the addition of a board seat to Societe Halley, the family’s investment arm.
Robert Halley has moved to quell talk of a property sale and the suggestion that the new shareholders might agitate to alter the company’s strategic direction.
