EU Approves Carrefour- Promodès Merger

BRUSSELS, Belgium (27 January 2000)--The EU headquarters in Brussels has approved the takeover of French hypermarket company Promodès by countryman Carrefour. With this deal Carrefour is now officially the second largest retail giant in the world, following the US Wal-Mart. The new Carrefour Group sales (including Promodès) are estimated to be approximately EUR70 billion annually.