Despite investing billions of dollars building and buying stores, Wal-Mart still trails Carrefour in Brazil today.
Metro's Koerber was never keen to go down the route Carrefour is now travelling.
Carrefour still shifts plenty of food, but it struggles to beat specialist electronics and clothing brands.
Carrefour's remaining big project is an internal one, managed by its chief executive, Lars Olofsson.
It could also put Wal-Mart ahead of its main rival in China, French retailer Carrefour.
Carrefour was the No. 1 supermarket retailer in Brazil until 2010, when CBD took over.
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Carrefour's giant stores have been hurt by competition from specialist stores and online shopping.
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Eight buyers at Carrefour, a French supermarket chain, are under investigation for accepting kickbacks from suppliers.
The other big owner of CBD is Casino, another French firm and Carrefour's archrival.
Another possibility is that Walmart, the third-biggest retailer in Brazil, might bid for Carrefour's Brazilian assets.
Luc Vandevelde, the chairman of Carrefour , resigned in a feud with its controlling family.
With operations in 30-odd countries, roughly twice as many as Tesco, Carrefour may simply have overreached.
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In particular, the Halley family, Carrefour's largest shareholder, has become dissatisfied with Mr Bernard's management.
He drove the group's international expansion which transformed Carrefour into the main global rival to Wal-Mart.
Wal-mart, for whatever reason, has taken a pass, following on an earlier retreat by Carrefour.
That would surely be the best of deals for both Carrefour and Diniz, but what about Casino?
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Big French companies, such as AXA and Carrefour, have moved in and bought up smaller Belgian rivals.
It operates 1, 200 7-Eleven stores, eight hypermarkets run jointly with Carrefour, and more than 10, 000 vending machines.
French retailer Carrefour is among several retailers who have been looking at such a route to enter the Indian market.
And Carrefour remains the largest international retailer in China, the most coveted retail market in the developing world.
Carrefour has also struggled against nimbler rivals such as online retailers and a growing demand for specialist stores.
While Carrefour failed in America and Wal-Mart is struggling in Germany, both companies are doing well in China.
Carrefour, a French hypermarket, has been in Asia longer, but is continuing to expand through the economic turmoil.
By contrast, Carrefour chose to go it alone in both markets and found itself boxed in by rivals.
ECONOMIST: Retailing in South-East Asia: Exit Carrefour | The
Rounding out the top 10 were China Resources Vanguard, RT-Mart International, Chonqing General Trading Group, Carrefour China, Yum!
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At present, foreign retailers such as Wal-Mart and Carrefour are not allowed to sell directly to consumers in India.
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Galli met for the first time in July with Carrefour's CEO, Daniel Bernard.
Carrefour last month disclosed its plans to sell hedge funds in French supermarkets.
While Carrefour doesn't have sub-Saharan operations, the chain has stores in northern Africa.
The Haniels may be taking their cue from Carrefour (other-otc: CRERF - news - people ).
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