Will Amazon buy Carrefour or the Spanish DIA?
After ten years of trying, Amazon fully entered into the food sector with the purchase of Whole Foods last summer. Now it seems that Europe is in its sights and it is said it could try to buy Carrefour or DIA.
The strategy is clear. After its results in the US, Amazon is now looking for physical points within the European food sector. Only two days after the purchase of the 437 Whole Foods stores, the number of Amazon customers grew by 25%.
Since last October rumors point to Carrefour, a company which is not experiencing its best moment either in terms of economics or presence in the market. However there are two small obstacles for that sale to come a fruition.
On the one hand, there is the Fnac’s alliance with Carrefour to create a purchasing center. On the other, there is a political matter. President Macron wants to put a limit to the internet giants with a stricter tax regulation and, in addition, French public opinion is not in favor of Amazon.
If the operation in France doesn’t prosper, it is said that DIA could also be a good option.
DIA has 5,498 stores in Europe (Spain and Portugal), 1,199 in Latin America (Argentina and Brasil) and 379 in China.
Amazon and DIA are already old acquaintances since September 2016 when they signed an alliance to promote online food sales. Besides that, from the stock exchange point of view, it could be a good moment to buy the Spanish supermarket chain.
There are two facts in the negative side, the presence of DIA in Europe is much limited than Carrefour and the DIA’s negative results during the first nine months of 2017.
Source: marca2.es