In France, Carrefour approves merger with Pão de Açúcar.
The speed demonstrates how good Abilio Diniz's proposal, using BNDES money, is for the French.
247 - Looking to solve its problems in Brazil through a merger with Pão de Açúcar, the Board of Directors of the Carrefour supermarket chain approved on Sunday, the 3rd, in France, the merger proposal with the company shared by Abilio Diniz and local competitors Casino. The deal, which could yield Carrefour an investment of R$ 4,6 billion in a new company, would involve 85% of resources from BNDES.
Today, the Wilkes board is expected to be convened to decide on the proposed merger. Wilkes controls Pão de Açúcar, whose board has two members appointed by Abilio Diniz and two from Casino, without a tie-breaking vote. The French partners have stated that they will veto the proposal. The CEO of Casino in France, Jean-Charles Naouri, has a meeting scheduled for late afternoon today with the president of BNDES, Luciano Coutinho. All information suggests that he will state that Casino does not want the deal, which, according to the president of the state-owned bank himself, could lead to BNDES withdrawing from the deal.