Is Reliance buying Carrefour or is it...?

RIL is on an aggressive growth strategy to increase its retail business. Towards this end, it was said to be looking out for big-ticket acquisitions globally. According to unconfirmed reports, Mukesh Ambani is getting ready to go shopping with a whopping USD 50 billion - enough to buy Corus eight times over!
The news doing the rounds yesterday indicated that RIL was looking to acquire French retail company Carrefour, or a couple of its many subsidiaries. Carrefour is world's third-largest retailer, which has a chain of 12,000 stores and saw sales of 93 billion euros last year.

However, according to a Dow Jones report, Carrefour SA has denied that it is in talks with India's Reliance Industries Ltd to sell part of its capital or create a joint venture.
Reliance has declined to comment on the matter

Reliance wants a bite of Retail Giant Carrefour

RIL wants a bite of retail giant Carrefour. The company is in preliminary talks to pick up one or two of Carrefour subsidiaries. A deal could be likely by June, reports CNBC-TV18.

It is the season for big-ticket acquisitions and Mukesh Ambani is keen to join the party. RIL is going retail shopping and wants a piece of the world's third-largest retailer Carrefour.

Currently, Carrefour operates across 29 different countries and has a chain of 12,000 stores and saw sales of 93 billion euros last year. So that should explain why RIL couldn’t go after Carrefour itself. What is however possible and likely is RIL picking up one or two of Carrefour’s many subsidiaries.

RIL could look at picking up the supply-chain and commodities trading subsidiaries. Talks are said to be in preliminary stages but a final agreement is likely before June. This move is expected to strengthen RIL's supply-chain management and also help improve its sourcing abilities.That is not all - RIL is also said to be eyeing, an international tier-II retail chain.

Names doing the rounds are UK's Sainsburys and Marks and Spencer’s foods. While the names get bigger, so does the war chest. Unconfirmed reports suggest that Mukesh Ambani is getting ready to go shopping with a whopping USD 50 billion. That is enough to buy Corus eight times over! While the Ambanis are known to think big, this may be more than even they can chew.