Casino grows in Middle East with Qatar hypermarket deal

Casino grows in Middle East with Qatar hypermarket deal

Casino has signed a franchise deal with the Al Meera Consumer Goods Company to develop Geant hypermarkets in Qatar and Oman as part of the French retailer's bid to boost its presence in fast-growing regions.

December 15, 2011 3:33 by Reuters

Al Meera already operates 23 supermarkets under its own banner in Qatar, Casino said in a statement on Thursday.

The deal, whose financial terms were not disclosed, reinforces Casino’s presence in the Middle East, where it already has a franchise deal with Retail Arabia to operate 10 Geant hypermarkets and Geant Easy supermarkets in the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain.

Casino, which competes with Carrefour and privately held French retail chains Leclerc, Intermarche and Auchan, has been expanding in fast-growing emerging markets to offset slower growth in mature markets.

It has 2,200 stores outside France, mostly in Brazil and Colombia, Thailand and Vietnam, which made 40 percent of consolidated sales of 29 billion euros ($37.56 billion) last year. ($1 = 0.7721 euros) (Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Helen Massy-Beresford)