Carrefour‘s sale of its Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand operations fits into its broader strategy, according to analysts.
The deal is possible as they are not priority markets and the retailer does not have a top three position in any of them, Planet Retail analyst Magali Dubreil said.
Dubreil said Carrefour could leave Thailand as its operations account for only 1% of its global sales and it is the fifth-largest retailer in the country, with a market share of just 2%.
Similarly, Dubreil said the retailer could leave Singapore as it only operates two hypermarkets and has a market share of 1%.
However, while Malaysia is still a relatively small market for Carrefour, accounting for less than 1% of its group sales, the retailer said it expects to double the number of hypermarkets it operates in the country to 40 by 2012, Dubriel added.
“We want to do in three years what we took 15 years to do before,” Carrefour said at the end of 2009, referring to the 19 stores it operated in Malaysia.
How well do you really know your competitors?
Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.

Thank you!
Your download email will arrive shortly
Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample
We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form
By GlobalDataRBS analyst Justin Scarborough said the mooted US$1bn price tag for the disposals is “pretty expensive and quite a tall order to achieve.”
He added Tesco could acquire the operations in Thailand and Malaysia and some of the assets “would probably fit quite well.”
However, Scarborough noted that in Thailand, Tesco is planning on opening more than 100 stores this year, a 10% increase in new space and in Malaysia, it is planning to open about 30% more space in FY11.
“While the market is likely to take this speculation mildly positively, we do not think that the sale of these assets would have a material impact on Carrefour’s earnings nor valuation,” Scarborough said.
Late last year Carrefour came under pressure from its biggest investors, Colony Capital and Bernard Arnault to sell its operations in Asia and Latin America as the value of the company’s stock has dropped close to 30% since they came on board in 2007.