French retail group Carrefour is reportedly considering withdrawing its operations from Romania and has appointed an investment bank to assess potential buyer interest, according to French media reports. The move comes as the company reviews its global footprint and seeks to exit markets such as Poland and Argentina, following the recent sale of its Italian subsidiary.
According to French publication L’Informé, Carrefour has already decided to sell its Romanian business, although the group has not officially confirmed the information, retaildetail.be reports. The process is said to be handled by BNP Paribas, which has been tasked with identifying a potential buyer.
During the annual shareholders’ meeting in May, Carrefour CEO Alexandre Bompard announced a “complete strategic review” of the group’s activities. “We have undertaken an analysis without taboos. There are formats and markets that we may decide to sell or enter partnerships for. We will be very active in the coming months,” Bompard said at the time.
Carrefour’s possible withdrawal from Romania is part of a broader effort to streamline its international portfolio. In July, the group sold its Italian operations (around 1,200 stores) to NewPrinces. Meanwhile, JPMorgan is reportedly managing the sale process in Poland, and Deutsche Bank is preparing the exit from Argentina.
Despite reviewing a potential sale, Carrefour Romania has reported stable results this year. In the third quarter, the company recorded comparable sales growth of 0.2%, while revenue for the first nine months of 2025 reached 2.2 billion EUR, up 1.9% year-on-year.
Carrefour operates hundreds of stores in Romania under several formats — hypermarkets, supermarkets, and convenience stores — and is among the country’s largest private employers in retail, with over 10,000 employees.
Analysts say the decision would not come as a surprise. Carrefour has been focusing on its strategic markets such as France, Spain, and Brazil, while gradually withdrawing from less profitable ones.
For now, the company has not issued any official statement regarding a potential transaction in Romania.
