With two teams, headed by Anja Mutsaers and Paul Cronheim, De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek has advised both Carrefour and Cencosud on the divestment of Carrefour's Colombian supermarkets business to Cencosud for an amount of EUR 2 billion.

The acquisition allows Cencosud to tap rising consumer spending in Latin America as economic growth fuels an expansion of the middle class. Carrefour, the world’s second-largest retailer, is selling its Colombian grocery stores as part of a strategy to exit markets it doesn’t dominate.

The sale transaction was structured as a share sale of five holding companies through which the Colombian supermarkets business was held, all of which were Dutch B.V.'s. The sale transaction was concluded by way of a pre-emptive bid in a limited timeframe.

Team Carrefour: Paul Cronheim (lead partner)
Team Cencosud: Anja Mutsaers, Jean Schoonbrood, Ferdinand Hengst