Reliance Industries is considering buying a 13% stake in France's Carrefour, the world's second-largest retailer by sales, in a move that would catapult India's largest private-sector group into the ranks of the world's top retailers, according to a report in the Financial Times.
The stake Reliance is looking to purchase, which last night was wourth nearly 5 billion euros ($6.6bn), is currently held by the Halley family, Carrefour's largest shareholder. Talks between the two parties have not yet begun, a person familiar with the situation told the FT.
"If the opportunity (to purchase the Halley stake) is available, we'd like to explore the opportunity and take it forward," said the person familiar with the situation, according to the paper.
The Halley family control 20% of the group's voting rights thanks to a convention that allows longer-term investors to have a larger say in its affairs, the FT said.