Retail group Carrefour has entered into a binding agreement with Korean fashion retailer E-Land for the divestment of Carrefour Korea for an enterprise value of €1.5bn.
The completion of this agreement is subject to the approval of the relevant authorities including the Korean Competition authorities.
Carrefour Korea operates 32 hypermarkets and 24 shopping malls attached to these hypermarkets. Carrefour's ex VAT sales in South Korea in 2005 were €1,427m.
Founded in 1980, E-Land is a leading Korean fashion retail group which operates fashion outlets, department stores and hypermarkets. It had ex VAT sales in 2004 of €1,551m.
The divestment of Carrefour Korea is part of a wider effort to withdraw from insufficiently profitable or non-core activities.
Carrefour is Europe's leading retailer and ranks second worldwide, with more than 11,000 hypermarkets, supermarkets, hard discount and convenience stores in 30 countries and 430,000 employees.