Shareholders approve Carrefour bid to take Brazil unit private

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SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Shareholders in Carrefour Brasil, legally known as Atacadao SA, approved a proposal from its parent, French retailer Carrefour, to take the Brazilian unit private, according to a securities filing on Friday.

Carrefour will pay 8.50 reais ($1.50) in cash per share that it does not currently hold in Carrefour Brasil, as proposed this month.

“Full ownership will allow us to manage operations with greater agility, reinforcing our ability to drive sustainable and profitable growth in one of our most dynamic markets,” Carrefour Group CEO Alexandre Bompard said in a press release.

Apart from the all-cash option, Carrefour Brasil’s shareholders can choose to instead receive listed shares of Carrefour, or a mix of shares and cash.

Carrefour Brasil manages a variety of stores, including Carrefour supermarkets, the hybrid wholesale brand Atacadao and Sam’s Club stores. The Brazil unit accounts for approximately 20% of Carrefour’s total sales.

The French retailer, which owns about 67% of the Brazilian unit, first proposed the delisting in February. It hiked the offer by around 10% in early April.

Newspaper Valor Economico reported, citing sources, that 59% of shareholders had voted in favor of the proposal at the Friday meeting.

Carrefour expects the transaction to be concluded by mid-June, while the Brazilian unit projects its last trading day on the Brazil stock exchange to take place on May 30.

Carrefour Brasil’s shares ended Friday down 0.2%, at 8.64 reais each, while Brazil’s equities benchmark index Bovespa settled up 0.1%.

($1 = 5.6807 reais)

(Reporting by Isabel Teles and Andre Romani; Editing by Kylie Madry and Rod Nickel)