Altarea in talks to sell e-commerce platform to Carrefour

French listed retail specialist Altarea Cogedim is in exclusive talks to sell the entirety of its e-commerce platform to Franch hypermarket giant Carrefour for an undisclosed amount.

Altarea Cogedim said that Rue du Commerce platform, which it bought in early 2012, needed to team up with a major retailer to reach a critical size as competition intensifies.

The transaction is due to be completed in early 2016, Altarea Cogedim added.

Carrefour said in a separate statement that the acquisition is in line with its strategy of boosting its non-food online retail business.

'With more than 5 million unique visitors per month, Rue du Commerce is a major player in the non-food e-commerce market in France and boasts a strong brand, significant traffic and an extensive client base,' Carrefour said.

Launched in 1999, Rue du Commerce is a well-known e-commerce platform in France, historically centred on high-tech products but more recently growingly active in other retail segments, with the launch in 2007 of Galerie Marchande.

Its Digital Factory concept, aimed at analysing the offline and online visitors of shopping centres, was recently implemented in Altarea's Qwartz mall, located adjacent to a Carrefour hypermarket.

'More than three years after our investment in Rue du Commerce, Altarea Cogedim Group has managed its digital deployment. Today, through the Digital Factory, Altarea Cogedim has and maintains a unique know-how, giving it a head start in the field of digital,' commented Gilles Boissonnet, co-manager of Altarea Cogedim.