French supermarket group Carrefour to buy Brazil's Grupo Big in $1.3 bln deal

PARIS, March 24 (Reuters) – French supermarket retailer Carrefour has agreed to buy Grupo Big, Brazil’s third-biggest food retailer, in a deal valuing the Brazilian firm at around $1.3 billion, which Carrefour said would boost its earnings.

Carrefour said on Wednesday that it would buy the company from Walmart and investment firm Advent International.

It added that the transaction values Grupo BIG at an enterprise value of 7 billion Brazilian reals ($1.3 billion).

Carrefour said the acquisition offered significant synergy potential from year one, rising gradually to represent a net additional contribution to EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) of 1.7 billion Brazilian reals, or roughly 260 million euros, on an annual basis three years after the closing of the transaction.

“Our Group is on the offensive: The acquisition of the BIG Group is a major transformation movement for Carrefour Brazil,” said Carrefour Chairman and CEO Alexandre Bompard.

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